Skip to main content

Full text of "Ten reasons proposed to his adversaries for disputation in the name of the faith and presented to the illustrious members of our universities"

See other formats 


(tatbolic  library— 6 


CAMPION'S    TEN    REASONS 


ROEHAMPTON : 
PRINTED    BY   JOHN   GRIFFIN. 


Rationes  Deceni? 

CVYIBVS 


'dusCampianu 

jjz  SffCtfffafte  INIomintt  l£Slr 

ALLBGA 
k       -|I4  clariffimos  riros,  Qoftrafss 


2.    (gro\\W         I     $ 

I 

SraS^9  3 
1 
* 


TTTLE-PAGE  OF  THE  ORTGIXAL  EDITION  OF  THE 
"  DECEM  RATIONES,"  NOW  AT  STONYHURST. 


TEN  REASONS 

PROPOSED      TO      HIS     ADVERSARIES     FOR 

DISPUTATION    IN     THE     NAME     OF 

THE    FAITH    AND    PRESENTED    TO    THE 

ILLUSTRIOUS  MEMBERS  OF  OUR 

UNIVERSITIES 


BY 

EDMUND   CAMPION 

PRIEST  OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  THE  NAME  OF  JESUS 


ST.  LOUIS,    MO.  : 

B.  HERDER,  PUBLISHER 

17,    S.    BROADWAY 


LONDON  I 

MANRESA    PRESS 

ROEHAMPTON,    S.W. 


1914 


©bstat : 

S.  GEORGIUS   KIERAN    HYLAND,   S.T.D., 

CENSOR    DEPUTATUS 


5mprimatur : 

*    PETRUS    EPUS    SOUTHWARC. 


CONTENTS. 

INTRODUCTION I 

RATIONES  DECEM 30 

TRANSLATION                                                                            -  88 


INTRODUCTION. 

THOUGH  Blessed  Edmund  Campion's  Decent  Ra- 
tiones  has  passed  through  forty-seven  editions,1 
printed  in  all  parts  of  Europe;  though  it  has 
awakened  the  enthusiasm  of  thousands ;  though 
Mark  Anthony  Muret,  one  of  the  chief  Catholic 
humanists  of  Campion's  age,  pronounced  it  to  be 
"  written  by  the  finger  of  God,"  yet  it  is  not  an 
easy  book  for  men  of  our  generation  to  appreciate, 
and  this  precisely  because  it  suited  a  bygone  gen 
eration  so  exactly.  Before  it  can  be  esteemed  at 
its  true  value,  some  knowledge  of  the  circum 
stances  under  which  it  was  written,  is  indispen 
sable. 

§  i .  THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  Decent  Rationes. 
The  chief  point  to  remember  is  that  the  Decem 
Rationes  was  the  last  and  most  deliberate  free  ut 
terance  of  Campion's  ever-memorable  mission. 
During  the  few  months  that  mission  lasted  he  suc 
ceeded  in  staying  the  full  tide  of  victorious  Pro 
testantism,  which  had  hitherto  been  irresistible. 
The  ancient  Church  had  gone  down  before  the  new 
religion,  at  Elizabeth's  accession  twenty  years  be- 

1  Of  these  four  are  in  English  translations,  dated  1606  (by 
Richard  Stock),  1632,  1687,  and  1827.  The  present  translation 
is  thus  the  fifth  into  Campion's  mother  tongue.  Though  each 
of  the  quaint  old  versions  has  its  merits,  and  some  do  not  lack 
charm,  not  one  would  adequately  represent  Campion  to  the 
modern  reader.  A  new  translation  was  a  necessity — may  I  not 
say,  a  most  happy  one — seeing  that  Father  Joseph  Rickaby 
was  at  hand  to  satisfy  it.  [J.H.P.] 
B 


2  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

fore,  with  an  apparently  final  fall,  and  since  then 
the  Elizabethan  Settlement  had  triumphed  in 
every  church,  in  every  school  and  court.  The 
new  generation  had  been  moulded  by  it;  the  old 
order  seemed  to  be  utterly  prostrate,  defeated  and 
moribund.  Nor  was  it  only  at  home  that  Pro 
testantism  talked  of  victory.  In  every  neighbour 
ing  land  she  had  gained  or  was  gaining  the  upper 
hand.  She  had  crossed  the  Border  and  subdued 
Scotland,  she  held  Ireland  in  an  iron  grip,  she  had 
set  up  a  new  throne  in  Holland,  she  had  deeply 
divided  France,  and  had  learned  how  to  paralyze 
the  power  of  Spain.  What  could  stay,  her  pro 
gress? 

Then  a  new  figure  appeared,  a  fugitive  flying  be 
fore  the  law.  He  was  hunted  backwards  and  for 
wards  across  the  country,  every  man's  hand  seemed 
against  him.  It  was  impossible  to  hold  out  for  long 
against  such  immense  odds,  and  he  was  in  fact  soon 
captured,  mocked,  maligned,  sentenced  and  exe 
cuted  with  contumely.  Yet  Campion  and  his  hand 
ful  of  followers  had  meanwhile  succeeded  in  do 
ing  what  the  whole  nation,  when  united,  had  failed 
to  do.  He  had  evoked  a  spirit  of  faith  and  fer 
vour,  against  which  the  violence  of  Protestantism 
raged  in  vain.  He  had  saved  the  beaten,  shattered 
fragments  of  the  ancient  host,  and  animated  them 
with  invincible  courage;  and  his  work  endured  in 
spite  of  endless  assaults  and  centuries  of  persecu 
tion.  The  Decem  Rationes  is  Campion's  har 
angue  to  those  whom  he  called  upon  to  follow  him 
in  the  heroic  struggle. 


TEN  REASONS  3 

§  2.     THE  MAN  AND  THE  MISSION. 

Thus  much  for  the  inspiration  and  general  sig 
nificance  of  Campion's  work  considered  as  a  whole. 
It  will  also  repay  a  much  more  minute  study,  and 
to  appreciate  it  we  must  enter  into  further  details. 

As  to  the  man  himself,  suffice  it  to  say  that  he 
was  a  Londoner;  his  father  a  publisher;  his  first 
school  Christ's  Hospital;  that  he  was  afterwards 
a  Fellow  of  St.  John's,  Oxford,  and  held  at  the 
same  time  an  exhibition  from  the  Grocer's  Com 
pany.  At  Oxford  he  accepted  to  some  extent  the 
Elizabethan  Settlement  of  religion,  but  not  suffi 
ciently  to  satisfy  the  Company  of  Grocers,  who 
eventually  withdrew  their  exhibition.  This  was  a 
sign  for  further  inquisitorial  proceedings,  which 
made  him  leave  the  University,  and  retire  to  Dub 
lin;  but  he  was  driven  also  thence  by  the  zealots 
for  Protestantism.  Eventually  he  went  over  to  the 
English  College  at  Douay,  whence  he  migrated  to 
Rome,  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  after  eight 
years'  training  had  returned,  a  priest,  to  his  native 
country,  forty  years  old.  His  strong  point  was  un 
doubtedly  a  singularly  lovable  character,  and  he 
possessed  the  gift  of  eloquence  in  no  ordinary  de 
gree.  For  the  rest,  his  natural  qualities  and  ac 
quired  accomplishments  were  above  the  ordinary 
level,  without  reaching  an  extraordinary  height. 
He  was  a  man  who  never  ceased  working,  and 
whose  temper  was  always  angelic,  though  he  some 
times  suffered  from  severe  depression.  He  was 
adored  by  his  pupils  both  at  Oxford  and  in  Bo 
hemia.  His  memory  was  always  bright,  and  his 


4  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

conversation  always  sparkled  with  fresh  thoughts 
and  poetical  ideas.  He  composed  with  extra 
ordinary  facility  in  Latin  prose  and  verse;  but  the 
extant  fragments  of  these  literary  exercises  do  not 
strike  us  as  being  of  unusual  excellence,  though 
genuinely  admired  in  their  day.  He  was  certainly 
an  ideal  missioner:  saintly,  inspired,  eloquent,  un- 
tireable,  patient,  consumed  with  the  desire  for  the 
success  of  his  undertaking,  and  unfaltering  in  his 
faith  that  success  would  follow  by  the  providential 
action  of  God,  despite  the  obvious  fact  that  all  ap 
pearances  were  against  him. 

Campion  landed  at  Dover  late  in  June,  1580, 
and  reached  London  at  the  end  of  the  month. 
There  was  an  immediate  rush  to  hear  him,  and 
Lord  Paget  was  persuaded  to  lend  his  great  hall 
at  Paget  House  in  Smithfield  to  accommodate  a 
congregation  for  the  feast  of  Saints  Peter  and  Paul. 
The  sermon  was  delivered  on  the  text  from  the 
Gospel  of  the  day,  Tu  es  Christus,  Filius  Dei  mm. 
The  hall  was  filled,  and  the  impression  caused  by 
the  sermon  was  profound;  but  the  number  of 
hearers  had  been  imprudently  large.  Though  no 
arrests  followed,  the  persecutors  took  the  alarm, 
and  increased  their  activity  to  such  an  extent  that 
large  gatherings  had  for  ever  to  be  abandoned; 
and  after  a  couple  of  weeks  both  Campion  and 
Persons  left  London  to  escape  the  notice  of  the 
pursuivants,  whose  raids  and  inquisitorial  searches 
were  making  the  lot  of  Catholics  in  town  unbear 
able,  whereas  in  the  country  the  pursuit  was  far  less 
active,  and  could  be  much  more  easily  avoided. 


TEN    REASONS  5 

The  two  Fathers  met  for  the  last  time  at  Hoxton, 
then  a  village  outside  London,  to  concert  their  plans 
for  the  next  couple  of  months,  and  were  on  the 
point  of  starting,  each  for  his  own  destination,  when 
a  Catholic  of  some  note  rode  up  from  London. 
This  was  Thomas  Pounde,  of  Belmont  or  Beaumont, 
near  Bedhampton,  a  landed  gentleman  of  means, 
an  enthusiastic  Catholic,  and  for  the  last  five  years 
or  so  a  prisoner  for  religion.  Mr.  Pounde's  mes 
sage  in  effect  was  this.  "  You  are  going  into  the 
proximate  danger  of  capture,  and  if  captured  you 
must  expect  not  justice,  but  every  refinement  of 
misrepresentation.  You  will  be  asked  crooked 
questions,  and  your  answers  to  them  will  be  pub 
lished  in  some  debased  form.  Be  sure  that  what 
ever  then  comes  through  to  the  outer  world  will 
come  out  poisoned  and  perverted.  Let  me  there 
fore  urge  you  to  write  now,  and  to  leave  in  safe 
custody,  what  you  would  wish  to  have  published 
then,  in  case  infamous  rumours  should  be  put  about 
during  your  incarceration,  rumours  which  you  will 
then  not  be  able  to  answer  or  to  repudiate."  Father 
Persons  seems  to  have  agreed  at  once.  Campion 
at  first  raised  objections,  but  soon,  with  his  ever 
obliging  temper,  sat  down  at  the  end  of  the  table 
and  wrote  off  in  half  an  hour  an  open  letter  To 
the  Lords  of  Her  Majesty's  Privy  Council,  after 
wards  so  well  known  as  Campion 's  Challenge. 

§3.     THE  CHALLENGE. 

Campion,  after  finishing  his  letter  and  taking 
a  copy  for  himself,  had  consigned  the  other  copy 


6  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

to  Piounde.  Persons  had  done  the  same;  but 
whereas  the  latter  took  the  precaution  to  seal  his 
letter,  Campion  had  handed  over  his  unfastened. 
Then  the  company  broke  up.  Persons  made  a  wide 
circle  from  Northampton  round  to  Gloucester,  while 
Campion  made  a  smaller  circle  from  Oxfordshire 
up  to  Northampton.  When  they  got  back  to  town 
in  September,  they  found  all  the  world  discussing 
"  the  Challenge."  What  had  happened  was  that 
proceedings  had  been  taken  by  the  Ecclesiastical 
Commission  against  Pounde,  and  he  had  been  com 
mitted  to  solitary  confinement  in  the  ruinous  castle 
of  Bishop's  Stortford.  Before  he  left  London  he 
began  to  communicate  the  letter  to  others,  lest  it 
should  be  altogether  lost,  and  as  soon  as  it  was 
thus  published  it  attracted  everyone's  attention,  and 
his  adversaries  had  ironically  christened  it  the  chal 
lenge.  The  word  was  indeed  one  which  Campion 
had  used,  but  he  had  employed  it  precisely  in  order 
to  avoid  any  charge  that  might  have  arisen,  of  being 
combative  and  presumptuous. 

Thus  in  the  course  of  three  months  Campion,  as 
it  were  in  spite  of  himself,  had  filled  England  with 
his  name  and  with  the  message  he  had  come  to 
announce,  and  he  had  reduced  his  adversaries  to 
a  very  ridiculous  position.  They  had  been  dared 
to  meet  him  in  disputation,  and  this  they  feared 
to  do.  In  effect,  they  in  their  thousands  were  hid 
ing  their  heads  in  the  sand,  while  their  constables 
and  pursuivants  were  raiding  the  houses  of 
Catholics  on  every  side  in  hopes  of  catching  the 
homeless  wanderer,  and  of  stopping  his  mouth  by 


TEN    REASONS  7 

violence.  The  pulpits,  of  course,  rang  with  outcries 
against  the  newcomer,  and  in  his  absence  his  doc 
trines  were  rent  and  scofled  at;  but,  as  Campion 
said  in  a  contemporary  letter,  "  The  people  here 
upon  is  ours,  and  the  error  of  spreading  that  letter 
abroad  hath  done  us  much  good."  This  was  the 
first  popular  success  which  the  Catholics  had  scored 
for  years ;  and  after  so  many  years  of  oppression 
some  popular  success  was  of  immense  importance  to 
the  cause.  Father  Persons,  in  a  contemporary, 
letter,  says  that  the  Government  found  that  there 
were  50,000  more  recusants  that  autumn  than  they 
had  known  of  before.  The  number  is,  of  course, 
a  round  one,  and  is  possibly  much  exaggerated,  but 
it  gives  the  Catholic  leader's  view  of  the  advantage 
won  at  this  time. 

We  may  now  turn  to  The  Challenge  itself,  the 
only  piece  of  Campion's  English  during  this  his 
golden  period,  which  has  survived. 

[To  THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE,  THE  LORDS  OF  HER 

MAJESTIE'S  PRIVY  COUNCIL] 
RIGHT  HONOURABLE: 

Whereas  I  have  come  out  of  Germanie  and 
Boemeland,  being  sent  by  my  Superiors,  and  ad 
ventured  myself  into  this  noble  Realm,  my  deare 
Countrie,  for  the  glorie  of  God  and  benefit  of  souls, 
I  thought  it  like  enough  that,  in  this  busie  watchful 
and  suspicious  worlde,  I  should  either  sooner  or  later 
be  intercepted  and  stopped  of  my  course.  Where 
fore,  providing  for  all  events,  and  uncertaine  what 
may  become  of  me,  when  God  shall  haply  deliver 
my  body  into  durance,  I  supposed  it  needful  to  put 
this  writing  in  a  readiness,  desiringe  your  good  Lord 
ships  to  give  it  ye  reading,  for  to  know  my  cause. 


8  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

This  doing  I  trust  I  shall  ease  you  of  some  labour. 
For  that  which  otherwise  you  must  have  sought  for 
by  practice  of  wit,  I  do  now  lay  into  your  hands  by 
plaine  confession.  And  to  ye  intent  that  the  whole 
matter  may  be  conceived  in  order,  and  so  the  better 
both  understood  and  remembered,  I  make  thereof 
these  ix  points  or  articles,  directly,  truly  and  reso-< 
lutely  opening  my  full  enterprise  and  purpose. 

i.  I  confesse  that  I  am  (albeit  unworthie)  a  priest 
of  ye  Catholike  Church,  and  through  ye  great  mercie 
of  God  vowed  now  these  viii  years  into  the  Religion 
of  the  Societie  of  Jhesus.  Hereby  I  have  taken 
upon  me  a  special  kind  of  warfare  under  the  banner 
of  obedience,  and  eke  resigned  all  my  interest  or 
possibilitie  of  wealth,  honour,  pleasure,  and  other 
worldlie  felicitie. 

ii.  At  the  voice  of  our  General  Provost,  which  is 
to  me  a  warrant  from  heaven,  and  Oracle  of  Christ, 
I  tooke  my  voyage  from  Prage  to  Rome  (where  our 
said  General  Father  is  always  resident)  and  from 
Rome  to  England1,  as  I  might  and  would  have  done 
joyously  into  any  part  of  Christendome  or  Heathen 
esse,  had  I  been  thereto  assigned. 

iii.  My  charge  is,  of  free  cost  to  preach  the  Gos 
pel,  to  minister  the  Sacraments,  to  instruct  the  sim 
ple,  to  reforme  sinners,  to  confute  errors — in  brief, 
to  crie  alarme  spiritual  against  foul  vice  and  proud 
ignorance,  wherewith  many  my  dear  Countrymen  are 
abused. 

iv.  I  never  had  mind,  and  am  strictly  forbidden  by 
our  Father  that  sent  me,  to  deal  in  any  respect  with 
matter  of  State  or  Policy  of  this  realm;  as  things 
which  appertain  not  to  my  vocation,  and  from  which 
I  do  gladly  restrain  and  sequester  my  thoughts. 
V  v.  I  do  ask,  to  the  glory  of  God,  with  all  humility, 
and  under  your  correction,  iii  sortes  of  indifferent 
and  quiet  audiences:  the  first  before  your  Honours, 
wherein  I  will  discourse  of  religion,  so  far  as  it 


TEN    REASONS  9 

toucheth  the  common  weale  and  your  nobilities :  the 
second;  whereof  I  make  more  account,  before  the 
Doctors  and  Masters  and  chosen  men  of  both  Uni 
versities,  wherein  I  undertake  to  avow  the  faith  of 
our  Catholike  Church  by  proofs  innumerable,  Scrip 
tures,  Councils,  Fathers,  History,  natural  and  moral 
reasons :  the  third  before  the  lawyers,  spiritual  and 
temporal,  wherein  I  'will  justify  the  said  faith  by  the 
common  wisdom  of  the  laws  standing  yet  in  force 
and  practice. 

vi.  I  would  be  loth  to  speak  anything  that  might 
sound  of  any  insolent  brag  or  challenge,  especially 
being  now  as  a  dead  man  to  this  world  and  willing 
to  put  my  head  under  every  man's  foot,  and  to  kiss 
the  ground  they  tread  upon.  Yet  have  I  such  a 
courage  in  avouching  the  Majesty  of  Jhesus  my  King, 
and  such  affiance  in  his  gracious  favour,  and  such 
assurance  in  my  quarrel,  and  my  evidence  so  impreg 
nable,  and  because  I  know  perfectly  that  no  one  Pro 
testant,  nor  all  the  Protestants  living,  nor  any  sect 
of  our  adversaries  (howsoever  they  face  men  down  in 
pulpits,  and  overrule  us  in  their  kingdom  of  gram 
marians  and  unlearned  ears)1  can  maintain  their  doc 
trine  in  disputation,,  rl  am  to  sue  most  humbly  and 
instantly  for  the  combat  with  all  and  every  of  them, 
and  the  most  principal  that  may  be  found:  protest 
ing  that  in  this  trial  the  better  furnished  they  come, 
the  better  welcome  they  shall  be.\ 

vii.  And  because  it  hath  pleased  God  to  enrich 
the  Queen  my  Sovereign  Ladye  with  notable  gifts  of 
nature,  learning,  and  princely  education,  I  do  verily 
trust  that — if  her  Highness  would  vouchsafe  her  royal 
person  and  good  attention  to  such  a  conference  as, 
in  the  ii  part  of  my  fifth  article  I  have  motioned,  or 
to  a  few  sermons,  which  in  her  or  your  hearing^  I  am 

1  The  meaning  is — "  The  ministers  tyrannize  over  us,  as 
if  we  were  a  kingdom  of  unlearned  schoolboys  listening  to 
a  teacher  of  grammar." 


io  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

to  utter, — such  manifest  and  fair  light  by  good 
method  and  plain  dealing  may  be  cast  upon  these 
controversies,  that  possibly  her  zeal  of  truth  and  love 
of  her  people  shall  incline  her  noble  Grace  to  dis 
favour  some  proceedings  hurtful  to  the  Realm,  and 
procure  towards  us  oppressed  more  equitie. 

viii.  Moreover  I  doubt  not  but  you  her  Highness' 
Council  being  of  such  wisdom  and  discreet  in  cases 
most  important,  when  you  shall  have  heard  these 
questions  of  religion  opened  faithfully,  which  many 
times  by  our  adversaries  are  huddled  up  and  con 
founded,  will  see  upon  what  substantial  grounds 
our  Catholike  Faith  is  builded,  how  feeble  that  side 
is  which  by  sway  of  the  time  prevaileth  against  us, 
and  so  at  last  for  your  own  souls,  and  for  many 
thousand  souls  that  depend  upon  your  government, 
will  discountenance  error  when  it  is  bewrayed,  and 
hearken  to  those  who  would  spend  the  best  blood  in 
their  bodies  for  your  salvation.  Many  innocent 
hands  are  lifted  up  to  heaven  for  you  daily  by  those 
English  students,  whose  posteritie  shall  never  die, 
which  beyond  seas  gathering  virtue  and  sufficient 
knowledge  for  the  purpose,  are  determined  never  to 
give  you  over,  but  either  to  win  you  heaven,  or  to 
die  upon  your  pikes.  (And  touching  our  Societie  be 
it  known  to  you  that  we  have  made  a  league — all  the 
Jesuits  in  the  world,  whose  succession  and  multitude 
must  overreach  all  the  practices  of  England— cheer 
fully  to  carry  the  cross  you  shall  lay  upon  us,  and 
never  to  despair  your  recovery,  while  we  have  a 
man  left  to  enjoy  your  Tyburn,  or  to  be  racked 
with  your  torments,  or  consumed  with  your  prisons. 
The  expense  is  reckoned,  the  enterprise  is  begun ;  it 
is  of  God,  it  cannot  be  withstood.  So  the  faith  was 
planted:  so  it  must  be  restored \ 

^ix.  If  these  my  offers  be  refused,  and  my  en 
deavours  can  take  no  place,  and  I,  having  run  thous 
ands  of  miles  to  do  you  good,  shall  be  rewarded 


TEN    REASONS  H 

with  rigour,  I  have  no  more  to  say  but  to  recom 
mend  your  case  and  mine  to  Almightie  God,  the 
Searcher  of  Hearts,  who  send  us  His  grace,  and 
set  us  at  accord  before  the  day  of  payment,  to  the 
end  we  may  at  last  be  friends  in  heaven,  when  all 
injuries  shall  be  forgotten. 

"  Direct,  true,  and  resolute,"  Campion's  words 
certainly  are,  and  they  are  calculated  in  a  remark 
able  degree  to  reassure  and  animate  his  fellow 
Catholics  and  their  friends,  and  it  is  for  them  in 
reality,  rather  than  for  the  Lords  of  the  Council, 
that  the  message  is  composed.  If  the  composition 
has  a  fault  it  is  its  combativeness ;  and  in  effect, 
though  this  drawback  was  not  felt  at  the  time, 
it  was  later.  Subsequent  missionaries  found  it 
best  to  adopt  a  policy  of  far  greater  secrecy  and 
silence.  If,  however,  we  remember  that  Campion 
intended  his  paper  to  be  published  under  quite 
different  circumstances,  we  can  see  that  he  at  least 
hardly  deserves  the  reproach  of  being  contentious, 
or  if  he  does,  his  failing  was  venial  when  we  con 
sider  the  tastes  of  the  age.  The  immediate  result 
of  the  publication  was  without  question  a  great 
success. 

§  4.    THE  "  DECEM  RATIONES." 

Like  a  wise  general,  Father  Persons  at  once  be 
thought  himself  how  best  to  follow  up  the  good 
beginning  already  made.  Accordingly,  when  he 
and  Campion  met  at  Uxbridge  (for  it  was  not  safe 
for  Campion  to  come  to  London),  he  suggested  that 
the  latter,  seeing  that  his  memory  was  still  green 
at  Oxford,  should  compose  a  short  address  on  the 


12  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

crisis  to  the  students  of  the  two  Universities. 
Campion  met  the  suggestion  as  he  had  met  the  sug 
gestion  of  Pounde,  with  a  gentle  disclaimer, 
"  alleging  divers  difficulties,"  but  soon  good- 
humouredly  assented  on  the  condition  (not  a  usual 
one  with  literary  men)  that  someone  else  should 
propose  the  subject.  The  company  therefore  made 
various  suggestions,  none  of  which  met  with 
general  acceptance,  until  Campion  proposed 
"  Hereby  in  Despair."  "  Whereat,"  adds  Persons, 
"  all  that  were  present  could  not  choose  but  laugh, 
and  wonder  to  see  him  fall  upon  that  argument  at 
such  a  time  when  heresy  seemed  most  of  all  to 
triumph."  In  truth,  with  England  invincible  at 
sea  and  on  land,  and  the  absolute  sway  of  Eliza 
beth,  Cecil,  and  Walsingham  over  both  Church  and 
State,  what  more  hopeful  position  for  Protestant 
ism  could  have  been  imagined?  Campion's  mean 
ing,  of  course,  was  that  Protestantism  was  in 
despair  of  holding  the  position  of  the  ancient 
Church ;  of  ruling  in  the  hearts  of  a  free  people ;  of 
co-existing  with  Christian  liberty.  It  was  un 
worthy,  therefore,  of  the  acceptance  of  minds  that 
aspired  to  mental  freedom,  as  did  the  youth  of  the 
Universities.  This  subject  for  an  address  was  wel 
comed  with  acclamation,  and  Campion  promised 
to  undertake  it,  suggesting  on  his  side  that  Persons 
should  arrange  ways  and  means  for  printing  the 
tract  when  finished,  and  any  other  which  might 
seem  needed. 

This  agreed  to,  all    separated   once  more,  and 
Campion  rode  northwards  on  a  tour  which  he  took  in 


TEN    REASONS  13 

Derbyshire,  Yorkshire,,  and  Lancashire,  and  which 
was  not  over  for  six  months.  Meantime  Father 
Persons  had  set  up  his  "  magic  press  "  near  London, 
and  issued  from  it  five  volumes  of  small  size  in 
deed,  but  of  remarkable  vigour  and  merit.  As 
soon  as  any  notable  attack  was  made  on  the 
Catholics,  an  answer  was  brought  out  in  a  wonder 
fully  short  time,  and  these  answers  were  pithy, 
vigorous,  and  pointed,  in  no  ordinary  degree. 
When  one  remembers  how  much  co-operation  is 
needed  to  bring  out  even  the  slightest  volume,  one 
is  truly  astonished  at  the  feat  of  bringing  out  so 
many  and  such  good  ones,  while  the  hourly  fear 
of  capture,  torture,  and  death  hung  over  the  heads 
of  all.  When  threatened  with  danger  in  one  place 
the  press  was  bodily  transported  to  another. 

However,  our  business  at  present  is  not  with  Per 
sons,  but  with  Campion.  His  book  was  finished 
and  sent  up  to  Persons  in  March,  1581,  with  a 
title  altered  to  suit  the  controversy  which  had  al 
ready  begun.  It  was  now  Decem  Rationes:  qui- 
bus  fretus,  certamen  adversariis  obtulit  in  causa 
Fidei,  Edmundus  Campianus  &c.  "  Ten  Reasons, 
for  the  confidence  with  which  Edmund  Campion 
offered  his  adversaries  to  dispute  on  behalf  of  the 
Faith,  set  before  the  famous  men  of  our  Universi 
ties."  Persons  was  charmed,  as  he  had  expected 
to  be,  with  its  literary  grace.  It  was  in  Latin,  as 
had  been  agreed,  and  Campion's  Latin  prose, 
(though  critics  of  our  time  find  it  somewhat  silvery 
and  Livian),  suited  the  tastes  of  that  day  to  per 
fection.  The  only  thing  which  made  Persons  at 


14  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

all  thoughtful  was  the  number  of  references.  Cam 
pion  declared  that  he  was  sure  he  had  verified  them, 
as  he  entered  them  in  his  notebook,  but  Persons, 
with  greater  caution,  declared  that  they  must  be 
verified  anew. 

The  difficulty  of  this  for  men  living  under  the 
ban,  and  cut  off  from  access  to  large  libraries,  was 
of  course  great,  but  through  the  help  of  others, 
especially  through  Mr.  Thomas  Fitzherbert  of 
Swynnerton,  the  task  was  happily  accomplished. 
Campion  came  up  from  the  north  to  Stonor,  on  the 
Oxfordshire  border  where  the  secret  press  then 
was ;  and  there,  amid  a  thousand  fears,  alarms  and 
dangers,  the  book  was  printed. 

§  5.    THE  PRINTING. 

Of  the  actual  preparations  for  printing  the  Ten 
Reasons,  Persons  gives  this  account  in  his  Me 
moirs1  :- 

Persons  was  of  opinion  that  Campion  should  come 
up  to  London  immediately  after  Easter  [March  26th] 
to  examine  the  passages  quoted,  and  to  assist  the 
print.  Meanwhile  Persons  began  to  prepare  new 
means  of  printing,  making  use  of  friends  and  in  par 
ticular  of  a  certain  priest  called  William  Morris,  a 
learned  and  resourceful  man,  who  afterwards  died  in 
Rome.2  This  was  necessary,  as  the  first  press  near  Lon 
don,  where  the  first  two  books  had  been  printed,  had 
been  taken  down.  Eventually  and  with  very  great  diffi 
culty  he  found,  after  much  trying,  a  house  belonging 

1  Catholic  Record  Society  IV.,   14-17. 

2  Father  Bombino  calls  him  Richard  Morris,  and  says  he 
went  into  exile  and  lived  with  Allen  first  at  Rheims,  and 
afterwards  at  Rome,  where  he  died  in  the  English  College. 
(Vita  Campiani,  p.   139). 


TEN    REASONS  15 

to  a  widow,  by  name  Lady  Stonor,  in  which  she  was 
not  living  at  that  time.  It  was  situated  in  the 
middle  of  a  wood,  twenty  miles  from  London. 

To  this  house  were  taken  all  things  necessary,  that 
is,  type,  press,  paper,  &c.,  though  not  without  many 
risks.  Mr.  Stephen  Brinkley,  a  gentleman  of  high 
attainments  both  in  literature  and  in  virtue,  super 
intended  the  printing.  Father  Campion  then  coming 
to  London,  with  his  book  already  revised,  went  at 
once  to  the  house  in  the  wood,  where  the  book  was 
printed  and  eventually  published.  Persons  too  went 
down  to  stay  with  him  for  some  days  to  take  counsel 
on  their  affairs. 

Stonor  Park,  to  which  Campion  and  Persons  had 
betaken  themselves,1  is  still  in  the  possession  of 
the  old  Catholic  family  of  that  name,  of  which 
Lord  Camoys  is  the  representative.  Father  Mor 
ris  says  that  "  the  printing,  according  to  the  tradi 
tions  of  the  place,  was  carried  on  in  the  attics  of 
the  old  house."2  Being  near  Henley  it  was  pos 
sible  to  go  there  by  road  or  by  water,  and  one 
might  come  and  go  on  the  Oxford  high-road  with 
out  attracting  attention. 

Still  there  was  grave  risk  of  discovery  from  the 
noise  made  by  the  press,  and  from  the  number  of 
extra  men  about  the  house,  as  to  the  fidelity  of 
each  of  whom  it  was  impossible  to  be  absolutely 

1  Father  Morris  identified  the  lady  who  let  or  lent  Stonor 
Park,  with  Dame  Cecilia  Stonor,  daughter  of  Leonard  Cham 
berlain.    Father  Persons  describes  her  as  a  widow,  and  if  so, 
the  Sir  Francis,  then  alive,  was  not  her  husband,  but  her  son. 
Both  father  and  son  had  the  same  Christian  name. 

2  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Thomas  Edward  Stonor,  in  a 
correspondence  to  be  mentioned  immediately,  says  that  there 
were  no  definite  traditions  as  to  the  actual  locality  of  the 
press. 


16  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

sure.  Day  by  day  the  dangers  thickened  round 
them.  One  evening,  soon  after  their  arrival,  Wil 
liam  Hartley,  a  priest  and  afterwards  a  martyr,  who 
was  helping  in  the  work,  and  had  then  just  come 
back  from  a  visit  to  Oxford,  mentioned  casually 
that  Roland  Jenks,  the  Catholic  stationer  and  book 
binder  there,  was  again  in  trouble,  having  been 
accused  by  his  own  servant.  Jenks  was  doubtless 
known  to  all  Oxford  men,  indeed  but  three  years 
before  his  name  had  been  noised  all  over  Europe. 
He  had  been  sentenced  to  have  his  ears  cut  off  for 
some  religious  offence,  when  the  Judge  was  taken 
ill  in  the  court  itself,  and,  the  infection  travelling 
with  marvellous  rapidity,  the  greater  part  both  of 
the  bench  and  of  the  jury  were  stricken  down  with 
gaol  fever,  and  two  judges,  twelve  justices,  and 
other  high  officials,  almost  the  whole  jury,  and 
many  others,  died  within  the  space  of  two  days.1 
In  mentioning  Jenks 's  new  troubles  Hartley  pro 
bably  did  not  realize  the  extent  of  the  danger  to 
the  whole  party  which  they  portended.  Persons 
had  in  fact  employed  the  very  servant  who  had 
now  turned  traitor,  to  bind  a  number  of  books  for 
him  at  his  house  near  Bridewell  Church,  London, 
which  with  all  its  contents  was  thus  in  a  perilous 
condition.  Early  next  morning  an  express  mes 
senger  was  sent  in  to  town  with  orders  to  hide  or 
destroy  Persons'  papers  and  other  effects.  It  was 
already  too  late:  that  very  night  the  house  had 
been  searched,  and  Persons'  letters,  books,  vest 
ments,  rosaries,  pictures,  and  other  pious  objects, 
1  Challoner,  Missionary  Priests,  Introd.  p.  12. 


TEN    REASONS  17 

had  all  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  pursuivants. 
Worse  still,  Father  Alexander  Briant,  afterwards  a 
martyr,  and  one  of  the  brightest  and  most  lovable 
of  the  missionaries,  was  seized  next  door,  and  hur 
ried  off  first  to  the  Counter,  then  to  the  Tower, 
where  he  was  repeatedly  and  most  cruelly  racked 
to  make  him  say  where  Persons  might  be  found. 

Information  about  his  torture  was  brought  to  the 
Jesuits  at  Stonor,  and  one  can  easily  see  how  grave 
and  disturbing  such  bad  news  must  have  been. 
"  For  almost  the  whole  of  one  night,"  says  Per 
sons,  "  Campion  and  I  sat  up  talking  of  what  we 
had  better  do,  if  we  should  fall  into  their  hands. 
A  fate  which  befell  him  soon  after." 

The  Registers  of  the  Privy  Council  inform  us 
that  their  Lordships  gave  orders  to  have  Jenks  sent 
up  to  London  on  the  28th  of  April.  This  settles 
approximately  the  date  of  the  beginning  of  the 
printing  at  Stonor,  and  the  book  was  not  finished 
till  nearly  the  end  of  June.  So  the  work  lasted 
about  nine  weeks,  a  fairly  long  period  when  we  con 
sider  the  smallness  of  the  Latin  book,  here  repro 
duced.  It  will,  however,  be  shown  from  intrinsic 
evidence,  that  the  stock  of  type  was  very  small. 
The  printers  had  to  set  up  a  few  pages  at  a  time,  to 
correct  them  at  once,  and  to  print  off,  before  they 
could  go  any  further.  Then  they  distributed  the 
type,  and  began  again.  When  all  was  finished  they 
rapidly  stabbed  and  bound  their  sheets.  Con 
sidering  the  fewness  of  the  workmen1  and  the  un- 

1  As  five  printers  were  subsequently  arrested,  we  know 
their  names,  and  they  deserve  to  be  recorded  here,  viz., 
Stephen  Brinkley,  John  Harris,  John  Hervey,  John  Tuker, 
John  Compton.  Allen  speaks  of  seven  workmen.  Diary  of 
the  Tower  and  Douay  Diary. 
C 


i8  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

foreseen  delays  which  so  often  occur  during  print 
ing,  the  time  taken  over  the  production  does  npt 
seem  extraordinary. 

For  many  years  no  example  of  the  original 
edition  of  the  Decem  Rationes  was  known  to  exist : 
none  of  our  great  public  libraries  in  London  or  at 
the  Universities  possesses  a  copy.  But  it  was  the 
singular  good  fortune  of  the  late  Marquess  of  Bute 
to  pick  up  two  copies  of  this  extremely  rare  volume, 
and  he  munificently  presented  one  of  them  to 
Stonyhurst  College.  Canon  Gunning  of  Winchester 
is  the  happy  owner  of  a  third  copy.  By  the  courtesy 
of  the  Rector  of  Stonyhurst,  I  am  able  to  offer 
a  minute  description  of  the  precious  little  book. 

The  volume  is,  considering  the  printing  of  that 
time,  distinctly  well  got  up.  There  is  nothing  at 
first  sight  to  suggest  that  its  publication  had  been 
a  matter  of  so  much  difficulty  and  danger ;  but  when 
one  scrutinizes  every  page  with  care,  one  finds  that 
it  bears  about  it  some  traces  of  the  unusual  circum 
stances  under  which  it  was  produced. 

If  we  look  first  for  the  water-mark  in  the  paper 
we  shall  find  that  it  is  the  pot — the  ordinary  Eng 
lish  sign ;  a  proof,  if  one  were  needed,  that  the  book 
was  really  printed  in  this  country.  The  sheets  run 
from  A  to  K  (with  prefixed  J),  in  fours,  i6mo; 
the  folios  are  44,  of  which  39  are  numbered  (but 
by  accident  the  pagination  is  omitted  from  I  to  4, 
and  40  is  blank  as  well  as  the  fly-leaves). 

Let  us  think  of  what  this  means.  Eleven  signa 
tures  for  44  folios,  i6mo,  means  that  only  eight 


TEN    REASONS  19 

pages  i6mo  went  into  each  printing  frame,  or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  frame  was  so  small  that  it 
would  have  been  covered  by  half  a  folio  sheet,  9  by 
13  inches.  They  probably  printed  off  each  little 
sheet  by  itself,  for  if  they  had  had  a  larger  frame 
so  as  to  print  an  entire  folio  sheet — then  we  should 
have  found  in  the  finished  book  that  the  water 
mark  would  recur  once  in  each  sixteen  pages.  In 
point  of  fact,  however,  it  only  recurs  irregularly  in 
the  first,  fifth,  and  tenth  gathering.  This  could  not 
have  occurred  unless  the  sheets  used  were  of  half 
folio  size. 

A  Greek  fount  was  evidently  wanting.  Cam 
pion  was  fond,  after  the  fashion  of  scholars  of  that 
day,  of  throwing  into  his  Latin  letters  a  word  or 
two  of  Greek,  which  in  his  autograph  are  written, 
as  Mr.  Simpson  has  remarked,  with  the  facility  of 
one  familiar  with  the  language.  Here  on  fol.  24  a 
we  find  adynata,  where  aSvvara  would  have  been 
in  Campion's  epistolary  manner.  Again,  on  fol.  4  b 
he  quotes,  "  Hie  calix  novum  testamentum  in  san 
guine  meo,  qui  (calix)  pro  vobis  fundetur,"  and 
in  the  margin  Poterion  Ekchynomenon,  in  Italics, 
where  Greek  script,  if  obtainable,  would  obviously 
have  been  preferred.  A  further  indication  of  the 
difficulties  under  which  type  had  been  procured  is 
seen  in  the  use  of  a  query  sign  of  a  black-letter 
fount  (*.£.,;)  instead  of  the  Roman  fount  i.e.,?). 
This  will  be  the  more  readily  comprehended  when 
we  remember  that  Father  Persons'  books,  which 
Brinkley  had  printed  before,  were  in  English,  and 


20  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

that  English  prose  was  then  still  generally  printed 
in  Gothic  character.1 

So  Persons  also  made  use  of  it  in  order  that 
there  might  be  nothing  in  his  books  to  strike  the 
eye  as  unusual  in  books  of  that  class.  Campion's 
volume  on  the  other  hand  being  in  Latin,  it  was 
necessary  to  procure  a  new  set  of  "  Roman  "  type. 
The  use  of  the  black-letter  query-signs  would  not 
at  once  attract  attention,  so  they  were  kept,  though 
all  else  was  changed. 

A  further  trace  of  the  difficulty  in  finding  type 
is  found  in  the  signs  for  a,  e,  diphthong. 

This  combination  recurred  very  frequently  in 
Latin,  and  the  printers  had  very  few  of  them.  Very 
soon  after  starting  we  find  them  substituting  for 
Roman  an  Italic  diphthong,  <^,  also  o,  e  (ce),  and 
even  e,  an  ordinary  mediaeval  form  of  the  sign. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  these  substitutions  become 
increasingly  frequent,  as  we  approach  fol.  12  (end 
of  signature  c),  fol.  32  (end  of  signature  H),  and 
36  (end  of  signature  i ),  whereas  as  soon  as  the  next 
signature  begins  the  fount  of  se  is  ready  to  hand 
again.  The  conclusion  to  be  deduced  is  that 
leaves  C,  H,  and  I  were  each  printed  off,  and  the 
type  distributed,  before  the  setting  up  of  D,  I,  and  K 
could  be  proceeded  with.  This  illustrates  what  has 
been  said  before  .of  the  very  small  stock  of  type  in 
the  printing  establishment. 

Another  slight  peculiarity  ought  perhaps  to  be 

1  The  custom  however  was  already  changing,  and  "  RO-* 
man  "  type  soon  afterwards  came  into  general  use. 


TEN    REASONS  21 

noticed:  it  is  the  accentuation  of  the  Latin.  Ad 
verbs,  for  instance,  are  generally  accented  on  the 
last  syllable,  e.g.,  dociiiks,  facile,  qudm,  eo,  quo :  the 
rule,  however,  is  by  no  means  regularly  kept.  But 
this  has  evidently  nothing  to  do  with  the  peculiar 
conditions  under  which  Campion's  book  was  pro 
duced,  and  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  use  of 
accents  in  other  publications  of  the  same  class. 
Nothing  was  then  definitely  settled  about  the  accen 
tuation  of  either  French,  Italian,  or  Latin,  and 
Campion's  volume  does  but  reproduce  the  un 
certainty  on  the  matter  which  was  everywhere 
prevalent. 

Whilst  the  printers  were  contending  with  the  dif 
ficulties  arising  from  the  smallness  of  their  stock 
of  type,  difficulties  which  no  doubt  caused  vexatious 
and  dangerous  delays,  Campion  and  Persons  re 
sumed  their  missionary  labours  with  vigour.  In  his 
'Memoirs  Persons  writes: 

Whilst  the  preparations  were  being  made  Campion 
preached  unweariedly,  sometimes  in  London,  some 
times  making  excursions.  There  was  one  place  [that 
of  the  Bellamy's]  whither  we  often  went,  about  five 
miles  from  London,  called  Harohill.  In  going  thither 
we  had  to  pass  through  Tyburn.  But  Campion 
would  always  pass  bareheaded,  and  making  a  deep 
bow,  both  because  of  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  and  in 
honour  of  some  martyrs  who  had  suffered  there,  and 
also  because  he  used  to  say  that  he  would  have  his 
combat  there.1 

1  Memoirs,  i.  cap.    24;    Collectanea  P.   fol.    155. 


22  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

Father  Bombino1  managed  to  find  out  some 
further  details.  Mrs.  Bellamy's  house,  he  tells 
us,  had  a  good  library,  and  as  to  Campion's  con 
duct  at  Tyburn,  he  explains  that  the  shape  of  the 
gallows  was  a  triangle,  supported  at  its  three  an 
gles  by  three  baulks  of  timber;  the  tie-beams, 
however,  suggested  to  Campion  the  Cross  of 
Christ. 

From  the  State  Papers  we  hear  of  other  families 
and  places  said  to  have  been  visited  by  Campion 
at  this  period:  the  Prices,  of  Huntingdon;  Mr. 
William  Griffith,  of  Uxbridge ;  Mr.  Edwin  East, 
of  Bledlow,  Bucks;  Lady  Babington,  at  Twyford, 
Bucks;  Mr.  Dormer,  at  Wynge,  and  Mrs.  Pollard.2 

In  spite  of  alarms,  dangers,  and  interruptions, 
the  work  of  printing  was  concluded  without  mis 
hap.  The  method  of  publication  was  singular. 


1  Bombino,   Vita  Campiani   1620,  p.  136.     Some  of  Born- 
bino's   additions   are  not,   perhaps,   arranged    in   their   true 
chronological  order.     He  tells  us,  for  instance,  a  propos  of 
Brinkley's    difficulties    in   getting    printers,    that    he    had   to 
dress  them,  and  give  them  horses  to  ride,  like  gentlemen. 
But  he  does  not  make  it  clear  whether  these  were  the  men 
who  printed  the  Ten  Reasons,  or  Persons'  previous  works. 
Bombino  says  that  Brinkley  paid  for  the  type,  &c.,  but  Allen, 
in  a  contemporary  letter,  says  that  George  Gilbert  had  left 
a  fund  for  these  purposes.     Bombino  says  the  printing  of  the 
Decem  Rationes  was  commenced  at  Brinkley's   own  house 
at  Green  Street,  and  had  to  be  removed  because  one  of  the 
servants  was  arrested  in  London,  and  tortured  to  make  him 
confess,  which  he  heroically  refused.     Campion  and  Persona 
knowing  of  the  torture,  not  of  the  man's  constancy,  at  once 
removed    the    press.      But    Persons'   Memoirs   ascribes    this 
incident  to  an  earlier  period.      (Domestical  Difficulties,  p. 
119;  Autobiography  for  1581). 

2  Simpson,   p.  217,   following   Lansdowne    MSS.    xxx.   78. 


TEN    REASONS  23 

Hartley  took  the  bulk  of  the  copies  to  Oxford,  where 
the  chief  academical  display  of  the  year,  the  Act, 
as  it  was  called,  was  taking  place  in  St.  Mary's, 
on  several  successive  days.  Hartley,  coming  in  at 
the  end  of  the  first  day,  waited  for  every  one  to 
go  out,  then  slipped  his  little  books  under  the 
papers  left  on  the  seats,  and  was  gone.  Next  morn 
ing  he  entered  with  the  rest,  and  soon  saw  that  his 
plan  had  been  perfectly  successful.  The  public 
disputation  began,  but  the  attention  of  the  audi 
ence  was  elsewhere.  There  was  whispering  and 
comparing  notes,  and  passing  about  of  little  books, 
and  as  soon  as  the  seance  was  over,  open  discussion 
of  Campion's  "  Reasons."  Hartley  did  not  wait 
for  more,  but  rode  back  to  Stonor  with  the  news 
that  the  book  had  surely  hit  its  mark. 

At  Oxford,  as  Father  Persons  says,  many  re 
membered  and  loved  the  man,  or  at  least  knew 
of  his  gentle  character,  and  of  the  career  he  had 
abandoned  to  become  a  Catholic  missionary.  The 
book  recalled  all  this ;  and  to  those  who  were  able 
to  enter  into  its  spirit  it  preached  with  a  strange 
penetrating  force.  By  all  the  lovers  of  classical 
Latin,  and  there  were  many  such  at  that  day,  it 
was  read  greedily.  The  Catholics  and  lovers  of 
the  old  Faith  received  it  with  enthusiasm,  but  a 
stili  more  valid  testimony  to  its  power  was  given 
by  the  Protestant  Government,  which  gave  orders 
to  its  placemen  that  they  should  elaborate  replies. 
These  replies  drew  forth  answers  from  the  Cath 
olics,  and  the  controversy  lasted  for  several  years. 
Mr.  Simpson  has  included  an  outline  of  this  con- 


24  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

troversy  in  his  Life  of  Campion,  and  to  it  I  may 
refer  my  readers,  having  nothing  substantial  to 
add  to  his  account. 

§  6.    CRITICISM. 

It  would  not  be  necessary  for  me  to  say  more 
about  its  success,  except  that  to  us  nowadays,  the 
Rationes  will  not  seem  at  all  so  remarkable  as  it 
did  to  our  ancestors.  Religious  controversy,  in 
itself,  does  not  much  interest  us  moderns;  and 
those  who  will  read  Latin  merely  to  enjoy  the  style 
are  very  few.  But  in  the  sixteenth  century,  as  Sir 
Arthur  Helps  truly  says,  men  found  in  rhe  thrill 
of  controversy  the  interest  they  now  take  in  novels. 
At  that  time,  too,  of  all  literary  charms,  that  of 
good  Latin  prose  was  by  far  the  most  popular,  and 
the  language  was  still  the  "  lingua  franca  "  of  the 
learned  all  the  world  over.  Once  we  get  so  far  as 
to  appreciate  that  both  subject  and  style  were  in 
its  favour,  the  popularity  of  the  volume  will  seem 
natural  enough,  for  it  is  bright,  pointed,  strong, 
full  of  matter,  bold,  eloquent,  convincing. 

Without  attempting  anything  like  a  complete 
account  of  the  reception  of  the  book  by  the  pub 
lic,  I  may  mention  as  the  most  obvious  proof  of  its 
popularity,  that  more  strenuous  endeavours  were 
made  (so  far  as  I  can  discover)  to  answer  it  than 
were  made  in  the  case  of  any  other  assault  upon  :he 
Elizabethan  religious  settlement.  Lord  Burgh- 
ley  himself,  the  chief  minister  of  the  Crovn, 
called  upon  the  Bishop  of  London,  perhaps  the  most 
forward  man  then  on  the  episcopal  bench,  to  i;se 


TEN    REASONS  25 

all  endeavours  to  ensure  the  publication  of  a  suf- 
ficent  answer.  Finally  they  appointed  the  Regius 
Professors  of  Divinity  both  at  Oxford  and  at  Cam 
bridge  to  provide  for  the  occasion,  and  it  took 
both  of  these  a  long  series  of  months  to  propound 
their  answers  to  Campion's  tract,  which  is  only  as 
long  as  a  magazine  article.  Speaking  broadly,  we 
may  say  that  this  was  the  most  that  Elizabeth's 
Establishment  could  do  officially ;  and  besides  this, 
there  were  sermons  innumerable,  and  pamphlets 
not  a  few  by  lesser  men,  as  well  as  disputations  in 
the  Tower,  of  which  more  must  be  said  later. 

This  hostile  evidence  is  so  striking  and  so  ample 
that  it  might  seem  unnecessary  to  allege  more,  but 
I  attach  a  great  deal  more  importance  to  the  praise 
of  theologians  of  Campion's  own  faith:  for,  in 
the  first  place  this  is  much  harder  to  obtain  than 
the  attention  of  the  persons  attacked.  Secondly, 
those  who  are  acquainted  with  Catholic  theological 
criticism  are  at  first  surprised  to  find  what  very 
severe  critics  Catholic  theologians  are  one  of 
another.  In  this  case,  where  the  writer  had  from 
the  nature  of  his  task  to  make  so  much  use  of  rhe 
torical  arguments,  allusions,  irony,  and  unusual 
forms  of  expression,  there  was  more  than  usual 
chance  of  fault  being  found,  especially  as  every 
possible  thorny  subject  is  introduced  somehow,  and 
that  in  terms  meant  to  please  not  Roman  theolo 
gians,  but  Oxford  students.  Evidently  there  was 
danger  here  that  critics  should  or  might  be  severe, 
or  at  least  insist  on  certain  changes  and  emenda 
tions.  In  fact  the  work  was  received  with  joy,  and 


26  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

reprinted  frequently  and  with  honour.  I  have  lately 
found  a  letter  in  its  commendation  from  the  Car 
dinal  Secretary  of  State  of  that  day,  and  Muret,  as 
we  have  heard,  perhaps  the  greatest  humanist  then 
living  in  the  Catholic  ranks,  described  it  as  "  Libel- 
lum  aureum,  vere  digit  o  Dei  scriptum." 

§  7.    THE  DISPUTATIONS. 

The  publication  of  the  Decem  Rationes  was  the 
last  act  of  Campion's  life  of  freedom.  He  was 
seized  the  very  next  week,  and  after  five  months 
of  suffering  was  martyred  on  i  December,  1581. 
During  that  prolonged  and  unequal  struggle 
against  every  variety  of  craft  and  violence  the  Ten 
Reasons  continued  to  have  their  influence,  and  on 
the  whole  they  were  extremely  helpful,  for  they 
enabled  the  martyr  to  recover  some  ground  which 
he  had  lost  while  under  torture.  During  those 
awful  agonies  he  confessed  to  having  found  shelter 
in  the  houses  of  certain  gentlemen.  It  is  certain 
that  these  names  were  all  known  to  the  Government 
before,  and  that  he  was  not  betraying  any  secret. 
Nevertheless  the  gentlemen  in  question  were  at  once 
seized,  imprisoned  and  fined,  on  the  alleged  evi 
dence  of  Campion's  confessions  only.  This  of 
course  caused  much  scandal  among  Catholics,  and 
so  long  as  he  lay  lost  in  the  Tower  dungeons,  un 
pleasant  rumours  about  his  constancy  could  not  be 
effectively  contradicted.  Thus  far  Elizabeth's 
ministers  had  gained  an  advantage,  which  Pounde 
had  foretold  they  were  likely  to  win.  But  the 
remedy  he  had  suggested  also  proved  effective. 


TEN    REASONS  27 

Though  under  ordinary  circumstances  Eliza 
beth's  ministers  "  meant  nothing  less  "  than  hav 
ing  the  disputation  requested,  nevertheless  now 
that  Campion  was  so  terribly  shaken  and  reduced, 
they  hoped  that  they  might  arrange  some  sort  of  a 
meeting,  which  might  in  show  correspond  with  what 
had  been  demanded  in  the  Decem  Rationes,  and  yet 
leave  them  with  a  certain  victory.  They  were  em 
boldened  too,  by  finding  that  their  prisoner  was  not 
after  all,  such  a  particularly  learned  man.  He  had 
never  been  a  professor  of  theology,  or  written  or 
made  special  studies,  beyond  the  ordinary  course 
which  in  those  days  was  not  a  long  one.  It  was, 
therefore,  settled  that  four  disputations  should  be 
held  in  the  Tower  of  London.  Theology  was  still 
taught  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge  in  something  of 
the  old  mediaeval  method  and  in  syllogistic  form. 
The  men  who  were  pitted  against  Campion  had 
lately  been,  or  were  still,  examiners  at  the  Univer 
sities.  Nor  is  it  to  be  denied  for  a  moment  that 
they  did  their  work  well.  The  attack  never  fal 
tered.  Their  own  side  quite  believed  they  had 
won.  The  method  they  adopted  was  this.  They  as 
sumed  the  role  of  examiners,  and  starting  with  the 
Decem  Rationes  before  them,  they  plied  Campion 
with  crabbed  texts,  and  obscure  quotations  from  the 
Fathers.  Then  they  cut  short  his  answers,  and  as 
soon  as  one  had  examined  for  one  quarter  of  an 
hour,  another  took  his  place,  for  they  were  anxious 
above  all  things  to  avoid  defeat.  The  number 
of  topics  broached  and  left  unsettled  surpasses  be 
lief,  indeed  the  scene  was  one  of  utter  confusion, 


28  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

taunts,  scoldings,  sneers — a  very,  very  different  test 
from  the  academic  argumentation,  which  Campion 
had  requested. 

The  martyr  did  not  show  any  remarkable  eru 
dition,  indeed  all  opportunity  to  do  so  was  carefully 
shut  off.  No  University,  I  fancy,  would  have  given 
him  a  chair  of  theology  on  the  strength  of  his  re 
plies  on  that  occasion.  There  was  more  than  one 
premature  assertion  of  victory  on  the  Protestant 
side.  But  when  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  ac 
counts  are  compared,  one  sees  that  the  advantages 
won  against  Campion  were  slight.  They  evidently 
hoped  that  by  vigorous  and  repeated  attacks  they 
would  at  last  puzzle  or  bear  him  down.  But  they 
were  never  near  this.  He  was  always  fresh  and 
gay,  never  in  difficulties,  or  at  the  end  of  his  tether. 
He  stands  out  quite  the  noblest,  the  most  sympa 
thetic  and  important  figure  in  those  motley  assem 
blies.  The  Catholics  were  delighted.  They  suc 
ceeded  in  getting  their  own  report  of  the  disputa 
tions,  which  is  still  extant,  and  they  would  have 
printed  it,  if  they  had  been  able.  Philip,  Earl  of 
Arundel,  by  far  the  most  important  convert  of  that 
generation,  was  won  over  by  what  he  heard  in  those 
debates. 

On  the  whole  then  we  must  say  that,  if  Campion 
did  not  come  off  gloriously,  he  at  least  acquitted 
himself  well  and  honourably,  and  distinctly  gained 
by  the  conflict.  Offers  of  disputation  were  not  the 
ideal  way  of  forwarding  a  mission  such  as  his. 
Nevertheless,  in  his  case,  despite  circumstances  the 
most  adverse,  the  result  had  proved  advantageous. 


TEN    REASONS  29 

It  had  greatly  strengthened  and  encouraged  his 
own  followers,  and  that  was  in  reality  the  best 
that  could  then  be  expected.  Incidentally  too  the 
adverse  rumours,  which  had  gained  ground  during 
his  seclusion,  were  dissipated.  It  was  clear  that, 
though  he  might  have  been  deceived,  his  constancy 
was  unconquerable. 

Thus  Campion's  Challenge  and  his  Ten  Reasons 
not  only  contain  the  message  of  his  mission  enun 
ciated  with  characteristic  eloquence,  but  the  de 
livery  of  each  message  is  an  history-making  event, 
big  with  dramatic  consequences.  The  controversy 
about  his  book  did  not  die  with  him,  but  continued 
for  some  years,  until  it  was  merged  into  the 
standing  controversy  between  the  two  religions. 
We  cannot  describe  it  here. 

Suffice  it  to  say  that  Mr.  Simpson,  in  the  Appen 
dix  to  his  Edmund  Campion  enumerates  not  less 
than  twenty  works,  which  appeared  in  those  contro 
versies  between  1581  and  1585.  The  chief  de 
fender  of  Father  (Campion's  writings  was  Father 
Robert  Drury,  S.J.,  but  all  his  biographers  also 
have  something  to  say  on  the  subject.  The  chief 
opponents  are  William  Charke,  Meredith  Hanmer, 
William  Fulke,  Laurence  Humphrey,  William 
Whitaker,  R.  Stoke,  John  Field,  Alexander  No  well, 
and  William  Day.  Some  further  information  on 
the  whole  subject  may  be  found  in  articles  by  the 
late  Father  Morris  and  myself  in  The  "Month  for 
July  1889,  January  1905,  and  January  1910. 

J.H.P. 


RATIONES    DECEM 

QVIBVS   FRETVS  B.   EDMVNDVS  CAMPIANVS 

CERTAMEN  ADVERSARIIS  OBTVLIT  IN  CAVSA 

FIDEI,  REDDITAE  ACADEMICIS  ANGLIAE. 

EPISTOLA1 

AD  REGINAE  ANGLIAE  CONSILIARIOS,  QUA  PRO- 
FECTIONIS  SUAE  IN  ANGLIAM  INSTITUTUM  DE- 
CLARAT,  ET  ADVERSARIOS  AD  CERTAMEN  PRO- 
VOCAT 

Quandoquidem,  viri  ornatissimi,  a  Germania  et 
Bohemia  revocatus,  non  sine  ingenti  vitae  meae 
periculo,  in  hoc  florentissimum  Angliae  regnum, 
dulcissimam  patriam  meam,  tandem  aliquando  per- 
veni,  pro  Superiorum  meorum  voluntate,  Dei  glor- 
iam  et  animarum  salutem  promoturus ;  verisimile 
esse  putavi,  me  turbulento  hoc,  suspicioso  ac  diffi- 
cillimo  tempore,  sive  citius,  sive  aliquanto  tardius, 
in  medio  cursu  abreptum  iri.  Quapropter  ignarus 
quid  de  me  futurum  sit,  quum  Dei  permissu  in 
carceres  et  vincula  forte  detrudendus  sim,  ad  om- 
nem  eventum  scriptum  hoc  condidi:  quod  ut  le- 
gere,  et  ex  eo  causam  meam  cognoscere  velitis, 
etiam  atque  etiam  rogo.  Fiet  enim,  ut  hac  re  non 
parvo  labore  liberemini,  dum  quod  multis  ambag- 
ibus  inquirere  vos  audio,  id  totum  aperta  confes- 
sione  libere  expromo.  Atque  ut  rem  omnem,  quo 

1  A  Beato  Edmundo  anglice  scripta,  ab  alio  latine  reddita. 


EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI    RATIONES    DECEM        31 

melius  et  intelligi,  et  memoria  comprehend!  queat, 
compendio  tradam,  in  novem  omnino  capita  earn 
dispertiar. 

1.  Profiteer   me,   quamvis  indignum,  Ecclesiae 
Catholicae  sacerdotem,  et  iam  octo  abhinc  annis 
magna  Dei  misericordia  in  Societatem  nominis  lesu 
cooptatum,  peculiare  quoddam  belli  genus  sub  obe- 
dientiae  vexillo  suscepisse ;  ac  simul  me  omni  divi- 
tiarum,    honorum  et  aliorum    huiusmodi  bonorum 
spe,  et  habendi  potestate,  abdicasse. 

2.  Generalis  Praepositi  nostri  decreto  (quod  ego 
tamquam  mandatum  coelitus  missum,  et  a  Christo 
ipso  sancitum  veneror),  Praga  Romam,  ubi  Gene 
ralis  nostri  perpetua  sedes  est;    Roma  deinde  in 
Angliam  contendi:    qua  animi  alacritate  etiam  in 
quamcumque  aliam  orbis  terrarum  partem,  sive  ad 
christianos,  sive  ad  infideles,  profectus  fuissem,  si 
me  ad  earn  profectionem  superiores  mei  designas- 
sent. 

3.  Negotium  mihi  commisum  tale  est,  ut  gratis 
Evangelium  administrem,  rudes  in  fide  instituam, 
flagitiosos  a  scelere  ad  meliorem  vitae  rationem 
traducam,    errores    convellam;     et,    ut  summatim 
omnia  complectar,  pugnae  spiritualis  signum  tuba 
canam,  atque  alacriter  adversus  foeda  flagitia  et 
superbam  ignorationem,   qua  innumeri  cives  mei, 
quos  intimis  animi  visceribus  complector,  oppressi 
iacent,  depugnem. 

4.  Numquam  mihi  animus  fuit,  imo  et  a  Pa- 
tribus,   qui  me  miserunt,  severe  prohibitum  mihi 
est,  ut  ne  reipublicae  ac  politicae  huius  regni  ad- 
ministrationis    negotiis    me    immisceam:     nam    et 


32  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

aliena   haec   sunt   a  vocationis   meae    institute,  et 
iis  animum  cogitationesque  meas  libenter  avoco. 

5 .  Quamobrem  vestra  dementia  f retus,  ad  glor- 
iam  Dei  tria  non  minus  aequa,  quam  ab  omni  pacis 
et  tranquillitatis  reipublicae  perturbatione  aliena, 
concedi  mihi  et  permitti  humillime  postulo.     Pri- 
mum  est,  ut  Dominationes  vestrae,  pro  sua  et  rei 
publicae  dignitate,  me  pro  religione  disserentem 
audire  non  graventur.     Alterum,  quod  et  cumpri- 
mis  desidero,  et  maximi  momenti  esse  arbitror,  ut 
mihi  liceat  in  consessu  doctorum,  magistorum  et 
utriusque    Academiae    virorum    insignium,    sacro- 
sanctae     theologiae     professorum,    verba    facere. 
Promitto  me  catholicae  Ecclesiae  fidem  invictis  ra- 
tionibus    et    sacrarum  Scripturarum,  Conciliorurn, 
Patrum  atque  historiarum  auctoritate,  ac  denique 
ex  ipsa  turn  naturali,  turn  morali  philosophia  effica- 
citer  demonstraturum  et  defensurum.     Tertium,  ut 
audiar  ab  utriusque  iuris,  sive  canonici,  sive  civilis, 
peritis,  quibus  eamdem  fidei  veritatem,  legum,  quae 
etiamnum  vigent,  testimonio  atque  auctoritate  com- 
probabo. 

6.  Nollem    equidem    quidquam  proferre,  quod 
insolentem  provocationem  aut  arrogantiam  aliquam 
prae  se  ferret;   quum  et  mundo  mortuus  iam  sim, 
et  ex  '"animo  paratus  promtusque,  ut  me  ad  cuiusvis 
pedes  abiiciam  ac  vestigia  etiam  exosculer.    Tantus 
tamen  animus  mihi  est  pro  gloria  et  maiestate  Regis 
mei  lesu  amplificanda,  tanta  in  eius  favore  fiducia, 
tanta  denique  in  causae  aequitate  et  firmissimorum 
argumentorum  ac  probationum  robore  confidentia, 
(quum  certo  sciam  nullum  protestantium,  nee  om- 


RATIONES    DECEM  33 

nes  simul  iunctos,  nee  ullam  adversariorum  factio- 
nem,  quantumvis  imperitam  multitudinem  et  gram- 
maticos  quosdam  adolescentulos,  apud  quos  insig- 
niter  debacchantur,  in  error  em  inducant,  posse  dog 
mata  sua  disputatione  aut  tueri  aut  probare) ;  ut 
cum  illis  omnibus,  vel  cum  eorum  quolibet,  vel  cum 
antesignanis  ex  omni  illorum  numero  delectis,  ultro 
me  offeram  congressurum ;  bona  fide  protestans  eo 
mihi  gratius  fore  certamen,  quo  melius  instruct! 
accesserint. 

7.  Et  quoniam  Dominus  Deus  Dominam  meam 
reginam,  eximiis  naturae,  eruditionis  ac  regiae  edu- 
cationis  dotibus  exornare  voluit,  si  sua  Maiestas 
huiusmodi  auditionem,  qualem  in  quinto  articulo 
secundo  loco  efflagitavi,  sua  regali  praesentia  et  be- 
nigna  attentione  cohonestare  dignaretur,  sperarem 
sane,  me  articulos  controversos  optima  methodo  et 
perspicuis  argumentis  ita  illustrare,  atque  ab  omni 
bus  fallaciarum  involucris  quibus  constricti  sunt, 
explicare  posse,  ut  zelo  veritatis  et  amore,  quo  sua 
Maiestas   populum  complectitur,   mediocriter   eius 
animum  inclinarem,  quum  ad  plurimas  res,   quae 
regno  suo  non  parum  detrimenti  afferunt,  damnan- 
das  et  reiiciendas,  turn  ad  nos  catholicos,  misere 
iamdiu  oppresses,  maiore  aequitate  prosequendos. 

8.  Neque  vero  dubium  mihi  est  quin  vos,  orna- 
tissimi  consiliari  S.  M.,  quum  in  maximi  momenti 
negotiis  praeclare  ac  sapienter  agere  soleatis,  ubi 
has  de  fide  controversias,  quas  adversarii  nostri  non 
sine  fuco  et  confuse  plerumque  pertractant,  bona 
fide  delectas  et  fuco  nudatas  perspexeritis,    luce 
meridiana  clarius  cognituri  sitis,  quam  solidis  et 

D 


34  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

firmis  fundamentis  fides  catholica  nitatur.  Et  quia 
e  contrario  protestantium  argumenta  sunt  omnino 
frivola  et  infirma,  quae  temporis  iniquitate  vim 
aliquam  contra  nos  habere  putantur;  futurum 
spero,  ut  vestrarum  animarum  et  innumerabilium 
aliarum,  quae  a  vestro  nutu  et  exemplo  pendent, 
miserti,  ab  huiusmodi  falsorum  dogmatum  archi- 
tectis  et  doctoribus  f  acies  vestras  animumque  ipsum 
avertatis,  ac  nobis,  qui  vitam  nostram  pro  vestra 
salute  alacriter  profundere  parati  sumus,  aequiori 
et  magis  propitia  mente  auscultetis.  Multae  inno- 
centes  manus  quotidie  et  sine  intermissione  pro  vo- 
bis  in  coelum  attolluntur.  Haec  in  vos  studia  sunt 
eorum  Anglorum,  qui  in  provinciis  transmarinis 
numquam  interiturae  posteritatis  patres,  virtuti  et 
eruditioni  adquirendae  dant  operam;  omninoque 
secum  statuerunt,  a  salute  vestra  promovenda  non 
prius  absistere,  quam  vel  animas  vestras  Christo 
lucrifecerint,  vel  lanceis  vestras  confixi  generose 
occubuerint.  Et  quidem  quod  ad  Societatem  nos 
tram  attinet,  velim  sciatis,  omnes  nos,  qui  sumus 
de  Societate  lesu,  per  totum  terrarum  orbem  longe 
lateque  diffusi,  (quorum  continua  successio  et  mul 
titude  omnes  machinationes  vestras  anglicas  facile 
superabit),  sanctum  foedus  iniisse  ut  cruces,  quas 
nobis  iniicietis,  magno  animo  feramus,  neque 
umquam  de  vestra  salute  desperemus,  quamdiu  vel 
unus  quispiam  e  nobis  supererit,  qui  Tiburno1  vestro 
fruatur,  atque  suppliciis  vestris  excarnificari,  car- 
ceribusque  squalere  et  consumi  possit.  lampridem 
inita  ratio  est,  divinique  numinis  auspicio  incho- 
1  Est  hie  locus  supplicii  anglice  Tyburn. 


RATIONES    DECEM  35 

atum  certamen;  nulla  vis,  nullus  impetus  adver- 
sariorum  superabit.  Hac  ratione  consita  et  tradita 
olim  fides  est,  eadem  in  pristinam  dignitatem  re- 
vocari  et  restitui  debet. 

Quod  si  hoc  scriptum  meum,  quod  offero,  re- 
iicitur,  nee  benevoli  conatus  mei  quidquam  possint 
efficere,  et  pro  itinere  multorum  millium  milliarium 
vestri  causa  suscepto,  ingratum  animum  experiar; 
id  unum  agendum  mihi  supererit,  ut  vos  causamque 
meam  Deo  scrutatori  cordium  commendem:  quern 
quidem  ex  animo  precor,  ut  nobis  tantisper  gratiam 
suam  impertiri  velit,  qua  ante  extremum  remuner- 
ationis  diem  in  unam  sententiam  conspiremus;  et 
ut  tandem  aliquando  in  coelo,  ubi  nulla  erit  iniu- 
riarum  memoria,  amicitia  sempiterna  perfruamur. 

PREFATIO 

EDMVNDVS  CAMPIANVS  DOCTISSIMIS  ACADEMICIS 
OXONII  FLORENTIBVS  ET  CANTABRIGIAE,  S.  P.  D. 

Anno  praeterito,  quum  ex  institute  vitae  meae 
iussus  in  hanc  insulam  remeassem,  clarissimi  viri, 
offendi  sane  fluctus  baud  paulo  saeviores  in  angli- 
cano  littore,  quani  quos  in  oceano  brittannico  recens 
a  tergo  reliqueram.  Mox  interiorem  in  Angliam 
ubi  penetrassem,  nihil  familiarius,  quam  inusitata 
supplicia;  nihil  certius,  quam  incerta  pericula. 
Collegi  me,  ut  potui,  memor  causae,  memor  tern- 
porum.  Ac  ne  prius  forte  corriperer,  quam  auditus 
a  quopiam  fuissem,  scripto  protinus  mandavi  con- 
silium  meum,  qui  venissem,  quid  quaererem,  quod 
bellum,  et  quibus,  indicere  cogitarem  Autographum 


36  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

apud  me  habui,  ut  mecum,  si  caperer,  caperetur; 
exemplum  eius  apud  amicum  deposui,  quod,  me 
quidem  nesciente,  pluribus  communicatum  est.  Ad- 
versarii  publicatam  schedulam  atrociter  acceperunt 
quum  caetera,  turn  illud  invidiosissime  criminantes, 
quod  unus  omnibus  in  hoc  religionis  negotio  certa- 
men  obtulissem;  quamquam  solus  non  eram  futu- 
rus,  si  fide  publica  disputassem.  Responderunt 
postulatis  meis  Hammerus  et  Charcus.  Quid  tan 
dem?  Otiose  omnia.  Nullum  enim  responsum, 
praeter  unum,  honeste  dabunt,  quod  numquam  da- 
tmnt:  "  Conditiones  amplectimur,  Regina  spondet, 
.advola."  Interea  clamant  isti:  '*  Sodalitium  tuum, 
seditiones  tuas,  arrogantiam  tuam,  proditorem,  sine 
dubio  proditorem."  Ridicule.  Operam  et  oleum 
«et  famam  homines  non  insipientissimi  cur  profun- 
dunt? 

Verum  his  duobus,  (quorum  prior  animi  causa 
meam  chartam  delegit,  in  quam  incurrerat;  alter 
malitiosius  totam  rem  convolvit),  praebitus  nuper 
est  libellus  admodum  luculentus,  qui  quantum  op- 
ortuit,  tantum  et  de  Societate  nostra,  et  de  horum 
iniuriis,  et  de  provincia,  quam  sustinemus,  edisserit. 
Mihi  supererat,  (quoniam,  ut  video,  tormenta,  non 
scholas,  parant  antistites),  rationem  facti  mei  vobis 
ut  probarem ;  capita  rerum,  quae  mihi  tantum  fiden- 
tiae  pepererunt,  quasi  digito  fontes  ostenderem. 
Vos  etiam  hortarer,  quorum  interest  praeter  caete- 
ros,  incumbatis  in  hanc  curam,  quam  a  vobis  Chris- 
tus,  Ecclesia,  respublica  et  vestra  salus  exigunt. 
Ego  si  fretus  ingenio,  litteris,  arte,  lectione,  mem- 
oria,  peritissimum  quemque  adversarium  provocavi 


RATIONES    DECEM  37 

fui  vanissimus  et  superbissimus,  qui  neque  me, 
neque  illos  inspexerim;  sin  causam  intuitus,  exist- 
imavi  satis  me  valentem  esse,  qui  docerem  hunc 
solem  meridie  lucere,  debetis  mihi  fervorem  istum 
concedere,  quern  honor  lesu  Christi,  Regis  mei,  et 
invicta  veritas  imperarunt.  Scitis  M.  Tullium  in 
Quintiana,  quum  Roscius  victoriam  adpromitteret, 
si  efficeret  argumentis,  septingenta  millia  passuum 
non  esse  decursa  biduo,  non  modo  nihil  veritum 
articulos  et  nervos  Hortensii,  sed  ne  grandiores 
quidem  Hortensio,  Phillipos,  et  Cottas,  et  Antonios, 
et  Grasses,  quibus  maximam  dicendi  gloriam  trib- 
uebat,  metuere  potuisse.  Est  enim  quaedam  veritas 
tarn  illustris  et  perspicua,  ut  earn  nullae  verborum 
rerumque  praestigiae  possint  obruere.  Porro  liqui- 
dius  est  quod  nos  agimus,  quam  ilia  f  uit  hypothesis 
Rosciana.  Nam  si  hoc  praestitero:  coelos  esse, 
divos  esse,  fidem  esse,  Christum  esse,  causam  obti- 
nui.  Hie  ego  non  sim  animosus?  Equidem  occidi 
possum,  superari  non  possum,  iis  enim  Doctoribus 
insisto,  quos  ille  Spiritus  erudiit,  qui  nee  fallitur, 
nee  vincitur. 

Quaeso  a  vobis  ut  salvi  esse  velitis.  A  quibus 
hoc  impetraro,  reliqua  minime  dubitanter  expecto. 
Date  modo  vos  huic  sollicitudini,  Christum  obtes- 
tamini,  industriam  adiungite ;  profecto  sentietis  id, 
quod  res  est,  et  adversaries  desperare,  et  nos,  tarn 
solide  fundatos,  quieto  magnoque  animo  hanc  are- 
nam  expetere  oportere.  Brevior  hie  sum,  quod 
reliquo  sermone  vos  alloquor.  Valete. 


38  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

RATIONES 
OBLATI  CERTAMINIS 

Ego  dabo  vobis  os  et  sapientiam,  cut  non  pote- 
runt  resistere  et  contradicere  omnes  adversarii  ve- 
stri.  Luc.  xxi.  15. 


Rationum  capita. 

1.  Sacrae  Litterae. 

2.  Sacrarum  Litterarum  sententia. 

3.  Natura  Ecclesiae. 

4.  Concilia. 

5.  Patres. 

6.  Firmamenta  Patrum. 

7.  Historia. 

8.  Paradoxa. 

9.  Sophismata. 

10.  Omne  genus  testium. 

PRIMA  RATIO 
SACRAE   LITTERAE. 

Quum  multa  sunt,  quae  adversariorum  diffiden- 
tiam  in  causa  loquuntur,  turn  nihil  aeque  atque 
sanctorum  maiestas  Bibliorum  foedissime  violata. 
Etenim  qui,  posteaquam  reliquorum  testium  voces 
et  suffragia  contempserunt,  eo  sunt  redacti  nihilo 
secius,  ut  stare  nequeant,  nisi  divinis  ipsis  codicibus 
vim  et  manus  intulerint;  ii  se  profecto  declarant 
extrema  fortuna  confligere,  et  rebus  iam  desperatis 
ac  perditis,  experiri  durissima  velle  atque  ultima. 


RATIONES    DECEM  39 

Manicheis1  quid  causae  fuit,  ut  "  Evangelium 
Matthei  et  Acta  refigerent  Apostolica?  "  Desper- 
atio.  His  enim  voluminibus  cruciabantur,  et  qui 
Christum  negaverant  prognatum  de  Virgine,  et  qui 
Spiritum  christianis  turn  primo  coelitus  illapsum 
finxerant  quum  ipsorum  Paracletus,  Persa  nequissi- 
mus,  erupisset.  Quid  Ebioniis,2  ut  omnes  Pauli  re- 
pudiarent  epistolas?  Desperatio.  His  enim  suam 
dignitatiem  retinentibus,  antiquata  circumcisio  est, 
quam  isti  revocaverant.  Quid  Luthero3  ut  Epis- 
tolam  lacobi  "  contentiosam,  tumidam,  aridum, 
stramineam,"  flagitiosus  apostata  nominaret,  et 
"  indignam  spiritu  censeret  apostolico?  "  Desper 
atio.  Hoc  enim  scripto  confessus  miser  atque  dis- 
ruptus  est,  quum  "  in  sola  fide  iustitiam,  constitu- 
eret."  Quid  Lutheri  catulis,  ut  Tobiam,  Ecclesias- 
ticum,  Machabaeos,  et  horum  odio  complures  alios 
eadem  calumnia  comprehensos,  e  sincero  canone 
repente  dispungerent?  Desperatio.  His  enim  ora- 
culis  disertissime  coarguuntur,  quoties  de  angel- 
orum  patrocinio,  quoties  de  arbitrii  libertate,  quoties 
de  fidelibus  vita  defunctis,  quoties  de  Divorum 
hominum  intercessione  disputant. 

Itane  vero?  Tantum  perversitatis,  tantum  auda- 
ciae?  Quum  Ecclesiam,  concilia,  cathedras,  Pa- 
tres,  martyres,  imperia,  populos,  leges,  academias, 
historias,  omnia  vetustatis  et  sanctitatis  vestigia 
oonculcassent,  scripto  Dei  verbo  tantum  controver- 

1  Aug.  1.   28  contra  Faust,  c.   2  et  de  utilit.  cred.  c.  3. 

2  Iren.  1.  i,  c.  26. 

3  Lut.   in  novo  test,   german.;    Praef.   in  ep.    lac.;    vide 
etiam  1.  de  capt.  Babyl.  cap.  de  extr.  unct.  et  cent,  Magd. 

2    p.     58. 


40  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

sias  velle  dirimere  proclamassent,  illud  ipsum  ver- 
bum,  quod  solum  restiterat,  exsectis  e  toto  corpore 
tarn  multis,  tarn  bonis,  tarn  speciosis,  partibus,  de- 
lumbasse?  Septem  enim  ipsos  de  veteri  Testamen- 
to1  codices,  ut  minuta  dissimulem,  calviniani  prae- 
ciderunt;  lutherani  vero  etiam  epistolam  lacobi, 
et  huius  invidia  quinque  alias ; 2  de  quibus  aliquan- 
do  fuerat  et  alicubi  controversum.  His  quoque 
libellum  Estheris  et  tria  capita  Danielis  adnumer- 
ant  novissimi  Genuenses;  quae  quidem  Ana- 
baptistae,  istorum  condiscipuli,  iam  pridem  damna- 
verant  atque  deriserant. 

Quanto  modestius  Augustinus, 3  qui  sacrosanctum 
catalogum  pertexens,  non  sibi  neque  alphabetum 
hebraicum,  ut  ludaei;  neque  privatum  spiritum,  ut 
Sectarii,  pro  regula  posuit;  sed  ilium  Spiritum, 
quo  totum  corpus  Ecclesiae  Christus  animat. 
Quae  quidem  Ecclesia  custos  huius  depositi,  non 
magistra,  quod  haeretici  cavillantur,  thesaurum 
hunc  universum  quern  Tridentina4  Synodus  est  am- 
plexa,  vetustissimis  olim  conciliis  publicitus  vin-' 
dicavit.  Idem  Augustinus,5  de  una  Scripturarum 
particula  speciatim  disserens,  inducere  in  animum 
non  potest,  librum  Sapientiae,  qui  iam  turn  Eccle 
siae  calculo,  temporum  serie,  priscorum  testimonio 
instinctione  fidelium,  ut  firmus  et  canonicus  robur 
obtinuerat,  cuiusquam  temeritate  vel  susurro  ex- 

1  Ii   sunt    Baruch,   Tobias,    ludith,   Sapientia,   Ecclesiast., 
duo  Machab. 

2  Ep.  ad  Hebr.,  Ep.   ludae,  Ep.   2  Petri,  Epist.   2  et  3 
loan, 

8  De  doctr.  christ.  1.  2  c.  3. 

4  Cone.  Trid.  sess.  4;  vid.  Melch.  Can.  1.  2  de  loc,  theol. 

5  De  praedest,  sanct.  c.    14. 


RATIONES    DECEM  41 

trudi  extra  canonem  oportere.  Quid  ille  nunc  di- 
ceret,  si  viveret  in  terris,  et  Lutheros  Calvinosque 
concerneret  opifices  bibliorum,  qui  sua  lima  politula 
et  elegantula  vetus  novumque  Testamentum  rase- 
rint;  neque  Sapientiam  tantum,  sed  et  alia  per- 
multa  de  canonicorum  librorum  ordine  segregave- 
rint:  ut  quidquid  ex  horum  officina  non  prodierit, 
illud  ad  omnibus  phrenetico  decreto  tamquam 
incultum  et  horridum  conspuatur? 

Ad  hoc  tarn  dirum  et  exsecrabile  perfugium  qui 
descenderunt,  ii  certe  licet  in  ore  suorum  assecla- 
rum  volitent,  sacerdotia  nundinentur  declamitent 
in  concione,  ferrum  in  catholicos,  equuleum  cru- 
cemque  consciscant;  tamen  victi,  abiecti,  squalidi, 
prostrati  sunt :  quandoquidem  arrepta  virgula  cen- 
soria,  veluti  arbitri  sedentes  honorarii,  divinas  ipsas 
tabulas,  si  quae  ad  stomachum  non  fecissent,  obli- 
terant.  Ecquis  est  vel  mediocriter  institutus,  qui 
talium  cuniculos  hostium  reformidet?  Qui  ho 
mines  quamprimum  in  corona  vestra,  eruditorum 
hominum,  ad  eiusmodi  veteratorias  artes,  tamquam 
ad  familiarem  daemonem  currerent,  non  aurium 
convicio  sed  strepitu  pedum  exciperentur.  Quaere- 
rem  ab  eis,  verbi  gratia,  quo  iure  corpus  biblicum 
detruncent  atque  diripiant?  Respondent:  non  se 
veras  Scripturas  exscindere,  sed  excernere  suppo- 
sititias.  Quo  iudice?  Spiritu  sancto.  Hoc  enim 
responsum  a  Calvino1  praescribitur,  ut  Ecclesiae 
iudicium,  quo  spiritus  examinantur,  subterfugiat. 
Cur  igitur  alios  alii  lancinatis,  quum  omnes  eodem 
Spiritu  gloriemini? 

1  Instit.  I.  lib.  I,  c.  7,  num.  4  et  5. 


42  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

Calvinianorum  spiritus  recipit  sex  epistolas,  quae 
spiritui  non  placent  lutherano ;  f reti  tamen  uterque 
sancto  Spiritu.  Anabaptistae  historiam  lobi  fabu- 
lam1  appellant,  tragicis  et  comicis  legibus  intermix- 
tam.  Qui  sciunt?  Spiritu  docente.  Castalio2 
mysticum  illud  Salomonis  Canticum,  quod  ut  para- 
disum  animae,  ut  manna  reconditum,  ut  opiparas  in 
Christo  delicias  catholici  admirantur,  nihilo  pluris 
quam  cantilenam  de  anicula,  et  cum  pedissequis 
aulae  colloquium  amatorium  venereus  f urcifer  aest- 
imavit.  Vnde  hausit?.  A  spiritu.  In  Apocalypsi 
loannis,  cuius  omnes  apices  excelsum  aliquid  et 
magnificum  sonare  confirmat  Hieronymus,3  tamen 
Lutherus4  et  Brentius  et  Kemnitius  quiddam,  nescio 
quid,  difficiles  aristarchi  desiderant;  eo  scilicet 
propendentes,  ut  exautoretur.  Quern  percontati? 
Spiritum.  Quatuor  Evangelia  fervore  praepostero 
Lutherus5  inter  se  committit,  et  prioribus  tribus 
Epistolas  Pauli  longe  praeferens,  '*  unicum  "  dein- 
ceps  *'  Evangelium  loannis,  pulchrum,  verum,  prae- 
cipuum  "  decernit  esse  nominandum;  quippe  qui, 
quod  in  ipso  fuit,  libenter  etiam  Apostolos  suarum 
rixarum  socios  adscripsisset.  Quo  doctore?  Spi 
ritu.  Quin  etiam  iste  fraterculus6  non  dubitavit 
Evangelium  Lucae  petulanti  stylo  perstringere, 
quod  in  eo  crebrius  bona  nobis  virtutum  opera 

1  Xistus  Sen.  1.  8,  haer.   10. 

2  Praef .  in  Cant.  Vide  Bezam  in  sua  praef.  ante  comm. 
Calv.  in  losue. 

3  Epist.  ad  Paulinum. 

4  Lut.    praef.    in   Apoc. — Kemn.    in   exam.    Cone.    Trid. 
sess.  4. 

5  Praef.   in  nov.  Test. 

6  Lut.  serm.  de  Pharis.  et  Publ. 


RATIONES    DECEM  43 

commendentur.  Quern  interrogavit?  Spiritum. 
Theodorus  Beza  ex  Lucae  vigesimo  secundo  capite : 
"  Hie  calix,  novum  testamentum,  in  meo  sanguine, 
qui  (calix)  pro  vobis  fundetur,  Trorrfpiov  eV%wo- 
fjuevov,"  ausus  est  ut  corruptum  vitiatumque  tradu- 
cere,  quod  haec  oratio  nullam  expositionem,  nisi 
de  vino  calicis  converse  in  verum  Christi  sangui- 
nem,  patiatur.  Quis  indicavit?  Spiritus.  Den- 
ique  quum  omnia  credant  suo  quisque  spiritui,  no- 
men  sancti  Spiritus  horribili  blasphemia  mentiun- 
tur.  Qui  sic  agunt,  nonne  se  produnt?  Nonne 
facile  refutantur?  Nonne  in  concessu  talium  viro- 
rum,  quales  estis  Academici,  tenentur  ac  minimo 
negotio  constringuntur?  Cum  his  ego  timeam  pro 
fide  catholica  disputare,  qui  pessima  fide  voces  non 
humanas,  sed  aethereas  tractavere? 

Nihil  !hic  dlco,  quae  vertendo  perverterint  quam- 
vis  intolerabilia  sint,  quae  accusem.  Gregorio 
Martino,  scientissimo  linguarum,  collegae  meo,  qui 
doctius  et  plenius  hoc  praestabit,  nihil  praeripio, 
nee  aliis,  quibus  id  laboris  esse  iam  prae  manibus 
intellexi.  Facinorosius  crimen  est  ac  tetrius,  quod 
nunc  persequor.  Inventos  esse  doctorculos,  qui 
temulento  quodam  impetu  in  coeleste  chirographum 
involarint ;  idipsum  pluribus  locis,  ut  maculatum,  ut 
mancum,  ut  f alsum,  ut  subreptitium  condemnarint  ; 
eius  partes  aliquas  correxerint,  aliquas  corroserint, 
aliquas  evulserint.  Hinc  omne  propugnaculum,  quo 
muniebatur,  in  lutheranos  spiritus,  tamquam  in 
valla  phantasmatum  pictosque  parietes  commu- 
tarint;  ne  prorsus  obmutescerent,  quum  in  Scrip- 
turas,  erroribus  suis  infestas,  impingerent,  quas 


44  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

nihilo    commodius    expedire,  quam  sorbere  favil- 
las,  aut  saxa  mandere,  potuissent. 

Haec  ergo  mihi  prima  ratio  vehemens  et  iusta 
fuit  quae  ubi  partes  adversarias  umbraticas  et  frac- 
tas  ostendisset,  animum  sane  addidit  viro  et  christi- 
ano  et  in  his  studiis  exercitato,  pro  sempiterni  Re 
gis  diplomate  adversus  reliquias  profligatorum  hos- 
tium  decertandi. 

SECVNDA  RATIO 
SACRARVM  LITTERARVM  SENTENTIA 

Alterum  est,  quod  me  quidem  ad  congressum 
incitarit,  et  riorum  apud  me  copiolas  elevarit,  ad- 
versarii  perpetuum  in  Scripturis  exponendis  ingen- 
ium,  plenum  fraudis,  inane  prudentiae.  Statim 
haec,  philosophi,  tangeretis.  Itaque  vos  auditores 
expetii. 

Sciscitemur  ab  adversariis,  exempli  gratia,  quid- 
nam  sequuti  novam  sectam  intriverint,  qua  Christus 
excluditur  e  coena  mystica?  Si  nominant  Evange- 
lium,  accurrimus.  A  nobis  verba  sunt:1  "  Hoc  est 
corpus  meum.  Hie  est  calix  meus."  Qui  sermo 
visus  est  ipsi  Luthero2  tarn  potens,  ut  quum  etiam 
discuperet  fieri  Zuinglianus,  quod  ea  re  plurimum 
incommodare  Pontifici  potuisset,  captus  tamen  et 
victus  apertissimo  contextu,  cederet;  neque  minus 
invitus  Christum  vere  praesentem  in  Sacramento 
sanctissimo  fateretur,  quam  olim  daemones,  victi 
miraculis,  Christum  Dei  Filium  vociferati  sunt.3 

1  Matth.  xxvi.   26;    Marc.  xiv.   22;    Luc.  xxii.    19. 

2  In  epist.  ad  Argent. 

3  Matth.  viii.    29;    Marc.   i.    24. 


RATIONES    DECEM  45 

Agedum,  pagella  scripta  superiores  sumus ;  de  sen- 
tentia  script!  contenditur.  Hanc  pervestigemus  ex 
verbis  adiacentibus : l  "Corpus  meum,  quod  pro 
vobis  tradetur.  Sanguis  meus,  qui  pro  multis  ef- 
fundetur."  Adhuc  durissimae  partes  Calvini  sunt, 
nostrae  faciles  et  explicatae.  Quid  amplius?  Con- 
ferte  Scripturas,  inquiunt.  Conspirant  Evangelia,2 
Paulus  adstipulatur ;  voces,  clausulae,  tota  connexio 
panem,  vinum,  insigne  miraculum,  coeleste  pabu 
lum,  carnem,  corpus,  sanguinem,  reverenter  inge- 
minant.  Nihil  aenigmaticum,  nihil  offusum  cali- 
gine  loquendi. 

Tamen  perstant  adversarii,  neque  finem  faciunt 
altercandi.  Quid  agimus?  Opinor,  audiatur  anti- 
quitas ;  et  quod  nos  alteris  alteri  suspecti  non  pos- 
sumus,  illud  omnium  saeculorum  veneranda  canities, 
Christo  propior,  ab  hac  lite  remotior,  decidat  ar- 
bitrio.  Non  ferunt:  prodi  se  aiunt.  Dei  verbum 
purum,  purum,  inclamant ;  hominum  commentaries 
aversantur.  Insidiose  inepte.  Dei  verbum  perur- 
gemus,  obscurant;  Divos  testamur  interpretes,  ob- 
sistunt.  In  summa,  sic  instituunt,  nisi  reorum  iu- 
dicio  steteris,  nullum  iudicium  fore. 

Atque  ita  se  gerunt  in  omni,  quam  exercemus, 
controversia,  de  inf usa  gratia,  de  inhaerente  iustitia, 
de  Ecclesia  conspicua,  de  necessitate  Baptismatis, 
de  Sacramentis  et  Sacrificio,  de  piorum  meritis,  de 
spe  et  timore,  de  peccatis  imparibus,  de  auctoritate 
Petri,  de  clavibus,  de  votis,  de  conciliis  evangelicis, 

1  Luc.  xxii.    19;    Matth.  xxvi.   28;    Marc.  xiv.   24. 

2  loan,  vi.;    Matth.  xvi.;    Marc,  xiv.;    Luc.  xxii.;    I  Cor. 
x.  et  xi. 


46  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

de  caeteris.  Scripturas  neque  paucas  et  ponderosas 
catholic!  passim  in  libris,  in  colloquiis,  in  templis, 
in  schola  citavimus  atque  discussimus ;  eluserunt. 
Veterum  scholia  graecorum  et  latinorum  admovi- 
mus;  abnuerunt.  Quid  turn  denique?  Doctor  Mar- 
tinus  Lutherus,  aut  vero  Phillippus,  aut  certe  Zuing- 
lius,  aut  sine  dubio  Calvinus  et  Bezza,  fideliter 
enarrarunt.  Egone  quemquam  vestrum  existimem 
tarn  esse  mucosis  naribus,  qui  hoc  artificium,  moni- 
tus,  non  persentiscat?  Quare  fateor  me  scholas 
Academicas  cupide  requirere,  ut  inspectantibus  vo- 
bis,  calamistratos  istos  milites,  in  solem  et  pulverem 
e  suis  umbraculis  evocatos,  non  meis  viribus,  qui 
cum  vestris  centesima  parte  non  sum  conferendus, 
sed  valentissima  causa  et  certissima  veritate  debi- 
litern. 

TERTIA  RATIO 
NATVRA  ECCLESIAE 

Audito  iam  Ecclesiae  nomine,  hostis  expalluit. 
Sed  tamen  excogitavit  quiddam,  quod  a  vobis  ani- 
madverti  volo,  ut  falsi  ruinam  et  inopiam  cognos- 
catis.  Senserat  in  Scripturis  turn  propheticis,  turn 
apostolicis,  ubique  honorificam  Ecclesiae  fieri  men- 
tionem:  vocari  civitatem  sanctam  (Apoc.  xxi.  10), 
fructiferam  vineam  (Ps.  Ixxix.Q),  montem  excelsum 
(Isai.  ii.  2),  directam  viam  (Ibid.xxxv.  8),  col- 
umbam  unicam  (Cant.  vi.  8),  regnum  coeli  (Matth. 
xiii.  24),  sponsam  (Cant.  iv.  8),  et  corpus  Christi 
(Eph.  v.  23  et  I  Cor.  xii.  12),  firmamentum  veri 
(i  Tim.  iii.  15),  multitudinem  illam,  cui  Spiritus 
promissas  instillet  omnia  salutaria  (loan.  xiv.  26) : 


RATIONES    DECEM  47 

illam,  in  quam  tmiversam  nullae  sint  umquam 
fauces  diaboli  morsum  letiferum  impacturae 
(Matth.  xvi.  18);  illam,  cui  quicumque  repugnet, 
quantumvis  ore  Christum  praedicet,  non  magis 
Christi,  quam  publicanus  aut  ethnicus  (Matth. 
xviii.  17),  potiatur. 

Non  est  ausus  contravenire  sonitu,  videri  noluit 
Ecclesiae,  quam  toties  Scripturae  commemorant, 
refragari;  nomen  callide  retinuit,  rem  ipsam  fun- 
ditus,  definiendo,  sustulit.  His  enim  proprietatibus 
delineavit  Ecclesiam,  quae  penitus  ipsam  occulant, 
et  dimotam  a  sensibus  tamquam  ideam  platonicam, 
secretis  obtutibus  hominum  perpaucorum  subii- 
ciant ; x  eorum  tantummodo,  qui  singulariter  afflati, 
corpus  hoc  aerium  intelligentia  comprehenderent, 
et  huiusce  sodalitatis  participes  subtili  quodam  ocu- 
lo  lustrarent.  Vbi  candor?  Vbi  simplicitas. 
Quae  Scripturae,  quae  sensa,  qui  Patres,  hoc  peni- 
cillo  depingunt  Ecclesiam?  Sunt  Christi  ad  Asia- 
ticas  ecclesias  (Apoc.  i.  2,  3),  sunt  Petri,  Pauli, 
loannis,  aliorum  ad  diversos  epistolae;  frequentes 
in  Actis  Apostolicis  inchoantur  et  propagantur  ec- 
clesiae  (Act.  viii.  10,  n  et  seq.).  Quid  istae? 
Num  soli  Deo  et  sanctis  hominibus,  an  christianis 
etiam  cuiuscumque  generis,  manifestae? 

Sed  profecto  durum  telum  necessitas  est.  Igno- 
scite.  Nam  qui  saeculis  omnino  quindecim,  non 
oppidam,  non  villam,  non  domum  reperiunt  imbu- 
tam  doctrina  sua,  donee  infelix  monachus  (Luther- 
us)  incesto  connubio  votam  Deo  virginem  funes- 

1  Calv.  Instit.  1.  iv.,  c.   I,  n.  2  et  3. 


48  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

tasset;  aut  Helvetius  gladiator  (Zuinglius)  in 
patriam  coniurasset;  aut  stigmaticus  perfuga  (Cal- 
vinus)  Genevam  occupasset;  ii  coguntur  Ecclesiam, 
si  quam  volent,  in  latebris  venditare,  et  eos  parentes 
asserere,  quos  nee  ipsi  noverint,  neque  mortalium 
quisquam  aspexerit.  Nisi  forte  gaudent  maioribus 
illis,  quos  haereticos  fuisse  liquet,  ut  Aerio,  lovin- 
iano,  Vigilantio,  Helvidio,  Iconomachis,  Beren- 
gario,  Valdensibus,  Lolhardo,  Wiclefo,  Hussio;  a 
quibus  pestifera  quaedam  fragmenta  dogmatum 
emendicarint. 

Nolite  mirari,  si  fumulos  istos  non  pertimui, 
quos,  modo  ad  meridianam  lucem  venero,  minime 
fuerit  laboriosum  dispellere.  Haec  est  enim  nostra 
sermocianatio.  Die  mihi:  subscribis  Ecclesiae, 
quae  saeculis  anteactis  viguit? — Omnino. — Obea- 
mus  ergo  terras  et  tempora.  Cui? — Coetui  fide- 
lium. — Quorum? — Nomina  nesciuntur.  sed  constat 
plurimos  exstitisse. — Constat?  Quibus  constat? — 
Deo. — Quis  dicit? — Nos,  qui  divinitus  edocti  sumus. 
— Fabulae  qui  credam? — Si  arderes  fide,  tarn  scires 
hoc,  quam  te  vivere. 

Spectatum  admissi,  risum  teneatis? 

luberi  christianos  omnes  adiungere  se  Ecclesiae, 
cavere  ne  spiritali  gladio  trucidentur,  in  domo  Dei 
pacem  colore,  huic  animas  credere  columini  veri- 
tatis,  istic  querelas  omnes  deponere,  hinc  eiectos 
habere  pro  ethnicis;  nescire  tamen  tot  centinis,  tot 
homines,  ubinam  ilia  sit,  quive  hue  pertineant? 
Vnum  illud  crepare  in  tenebris,  ubi  ubi  sit  Ecclesia, 
tantummodo  sanctos  et  in  aethera  destinatos  ea  con- 


RATIONES    DECEM  49 

tineri?  Ex  quo  fit  ut,  si  quis  imperium  sui  Prae- 
sulis  detrectare  velit,  scelere  solvatur,  dummodo 
sibi  persuadeat  presbyterum  in  crimen  incidisse,  et 
ab  Ecclesia  protinus  excidisse. 

Quum  scirem  adversaries  talia  comminisci,  quod 
nullius  aetatis  Ecclesiae  consuessent,  et  orbatos  tota 
re,  velle  tamen  inter  angustias  vocabulum  possidere, 
solabar  me  vestro  acumine,  atque  adeo  mihi  pol- 
licebar,  fore  ut  quamprimum  huiusmodi  technas  ex 
ipsorum  confessione  cerneretis,  statim  homines  in- 
genui  et  cordati  stultas  argutias  in  vestram  intextas 
perniciem  exscinderetis. 

QVARTA  RATIO 
CONCILIA 

Gravis,  Ecclesia  nascente,  quaestio  de  legitimis 
caeremoniis,  quae  credentium  animos  disturbavit, 
coacto  Apostolorum  et  seniorum  concilio,  soluta 
est.  Credidere  parentibus  filii,  pastoribus  oves,  in 
haec  verba  mandantibus : l  "  Visum  est  Spiritui 
sancto  et  nobis."  Sequuta  sunt  ad  extirpandam 
haeresim,  quae  varia  quibusque  saeculis  pullulavit, 
oecumenica  veterum  Concilia  quatuor,  tantae  firmi- 
tudinis,  ut  iis  ante  annos  mille  singularis  honos 
tamquam  divinis  vocibus,  haberetur.2  Non  abibo 
longius.  Etiam  domi  nostrae,  comitiis  regni  eadem 
Concilia  pristinum  ius  inviolatamque  dignitatem 
obtinent.  Haec  citabo,  teque  ipsam,3  Anglia,  dul- 
cissima  patria,  contestabor.  Si,  quemadmodum 

1  Act.  xv.  28. 

2  Greg.  1.  I,  ep.  24. 

3  Ang.  I  Elizab. 

E 


50  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

prae  te  fers,  quatuor  ista  Concilia  reverebere,  sum- 
mum  honorem  primae  sedis  Episcopo,  id  est,  Petro, 
deferes:1  incruentum  corporis  et  sanguinis  Christi 
sacrificium  in  altari  recognosces:2  beatos  Martyres, 
divosque  omnes  coelites,  ut  pro  te  Christo  suppli- 
cent,  obsecrabis:3  mulierosos  apostatas  ab  infando 
concubitu  et  incestu  publico  coercebis:4  multa 
facies,  quae  demoliris;  multa,  quae  facis,  infecta 
voles.5  Porro  Synodos  aliorum  temporum,  nomi- 
natim  vero  Tridentinam,  eiusdem  auctoritatis  ac 
fidei  cum  primis  illis  fuisse,  quando  usus  venerit, 
demonstraturum  me  spondeo  atque  recipio. 

Auctus  igitur  Conciliorum  omnium  valido  et 
exquisito  praesidio,  cur  non  ingrediar  in  hanc  pal- 
aestram  animo  tranquillo  et  praesenti,  observaturus 
adversarium,  quo  se  proripiat?  Nam  et  evidentis- 
sima  producam,  quae  distorquere  non  poterit,  et 
probatissima,  quae  respuere  non  audebit. 

Fortasse  verbosius  loquendo  diem  extrahere  con- 
abitur ;  sed  ab  intentis  hominibus,  si  vos  rego  bene 
novi,  nee  aures  nee  oculos  compilabit.  Quod  si 
quis  erit  omnino  tarn  demens,  qui  se  unum  opponat 
Senatoribus  orbis  terrae,  et  iis  quidem  omni  excep- 
tione  maioribus,  sanctioribus,  doctioribus,  vetusti- 
oribus;  libenter  aspiciam  illud  os,  quod  ubi  vobis 
ostendero,  reliqua  cogitationibus  vestris  relinquam. 
Interim  hoc  monebo ;  qui  pleno  Concilio,  rite  atque 
ordine  consummate,  momentum  et  pondus  abrogat, 

1  Nic.  can.   vi.;    Chalc.  act.  iv.;    Const,  c.    5. 

2  Ephes.  cone,  in  epist.  ad  Nestor;   Nic.  c.  xiv. 

3  Chalc.  act.  xi. 

4  Nic.  cone,  apud  Spc.  I.  i.  c.  8. 

6  Vide  Chalc.  can.  iv.,  vii.,  xvi.,  xxiv. 


RATIONES    DECEM  51 

videri  mihi  millo  consilio,  nullo  cerebro ;  neque  so- 
lum  in  theologicis  tardum,  sed  etiam  in  politicis 
inconsultum.  Si  umquam  Dei  Spiritus  illuxit  Ec- 
clesiae,  certe  illud  est  tempus  immitendi  Numinis, 
quum  omnium  ecclesiarum,  quae  sunt  in  terris  pa- 
tentissimae,  religio,  maturitas,  scientia,  sapientia, 
dignitas,  unam  in  urbem  confluxerint,  adhibitisque 
modis  omnibus  divinis  et  humanis,  quibus  indagari 
veritas  possit,  promissum  implorent  Spiritum,1  quo 
salutariter  et  prudenter  sanciat. 

Prosiliat  nunc  aliquis  factionis  haereticae  ma- 
gistellus,  attollat  supercilia,  suspendat  nasum,  fron- 
tem  perfricet,  iudicesque  suos  scurriliter  ipse  iudi- 
cet.  Quos  ille  ludos,  quos  iocos  dabit?  Repertus 
est  Lutherus,2  qui  diceret,  anteferre  se  Consiliis 
duorum  suffragia  bonorum  et  eruditorum  hominum 
(putatote  suum  et  Phillippi),  si  quando  in  Christi 
nomine  consensissent.  O  circulos !  Repertus  est 
Kemnitius,3  qui  concilium  Tridentinum  ad  suos  ver- 
tiginis  importunae  calculos  exegerit;  quid  lucra- 
tus?  Infamiam.  Dum  iste  nictaverit,  sepelietur 
cum  Ario ;  Tridentina  Synodus  quo  magis  invetera- 
scet,  eo  magis  in  dies  eoque  perennius  efflorescet. 
Bone  Deus !  quae  gentium  varietas,  qui  delectus 
episcoporum  totius  orbis,  qui  regum  et  rerumpub- 
licarum  splendor,  quae  medulla  theologorum,  quae 
sanctitas,  quae  lacrymae,  quae  ieiunia,  qui  flores 
academici,  quae  linguae,  quanta  subtilitas,  quantus 
labor,  quam  infmita  lectio,  quantae  virtutum  et  stu- 

1  Matth.  xviii.  20;   loan.  xiv.  26. 

2  Lib.  de  capt.  Bab. 

3  Exam.  Cone.  Trid. 


52  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

diorum  divitiae  augustum  illud  sacrarium  impleve- 
runt?  Audivi  ego  Pontifices  exsultantes,  et  in  his 
Antonium,  archiepiscopum  Pragensem,  a  quo  sum 
•creatus  presbyter,  amplissimos  et  prudentissimos 
viros,  quod  in  ea  schola  haesissent  aliquot  annis, 
ut  nullum  Ferdinandi  Caesaris,  cui  multum  debu- 
erant,  regalius  et  uberius  in  se  beneficium  colerent, 
quam  hoc  fuit  quod  in  Tridentino  gymnasio  legati 
ex  Pannonia  consedissent.  Intellexit  hoc  Caesar, 
qui  reversis  ita  gratulatus  est:  "  Aluimus  vos  in 
schola  optima." 

Hue  invitati  fide  publica,  cur  non  properarunt 
adversarii,  ut  eos  palam  refellerent,  in  quos  ranun 
culi  coaxant  e  cavernulis? — Hussio  et  Hieronymo 
fregere  fidem,  inquiunt — Qui? — Constantiensis  Con- 
cilii  proceres — Falsum  est:  nullam  dedere.  Sed 
nee  in  Hussium  tamen  animadversum  fuisset,  nisi 
homo  perfidiosus  et  pestilens,  retractus  ex  fuga, 
quam  ei  Sigismundus  Imperator  periculo  capitis  in- 
terdixerat,  violatis  etiam  conditionibus,  quas  scripto 
pepigerat  cum  Caesare,  vim  omnem  illius  diploma- 
tis  enervasset.  Fefellit  Hussium  praecipitata  ma- 
litia.  lussus  enim,  quum  barbaras  in  sua  Bohemia 
tragoedias  excitasset,  semetipsum  sistere  Constan- 
tiae,  despexit  praerogativam  Concilii;  securitatem 
petiit  a  Caesare,  Caesar  obsignavit,  christianus  orbis 
resignavit  maior  Caesare.  Redire  ad  mentem  haer- 
esiarcha  noluit :  periit.  Hieronymus  vero  Pragen- 
sis  furtim  venit  Constantiam,  protectus  a  nemine; 
deprehensus  comparuit,  peroravit,  habitus  est  per- 
benigne,  liber  abiit  quo  voluit,  sanatus  est,  haeresim 
eiuravit,  relapsus  est,  exustus  est. 


RATIONES    DECEM  53 

Quid  toties  unum  exemplum  de  sexcentis  exa- 
gitant?  Repetant  annales  suos.  Martinus  ipse 
Lutherus  (a.  1518)  odium  Dei  et  hominum,  Au- 
gustae  positus  coram  Cardinale  Caietano,  nonne 
quod  potuit,  eructavit,  et  Maximiliani  litteris  com- 
munitus  excessit?  Idem  accitus  Wormatiam  (a. 
1521),  quum  et  Caesarem  et  plerosque  Imperil 
principes  haberet  infensos,  nonne  Caesaris  verba 
tutus  fuit?  Postremo  lutheranorum  et  zuinglian- 
orum  capita,  praesente  Carolo  quinto,  haereticorum 
hoste,  victore,  domino,  nonne  datis  induciis  con- 
fessiones  suas  innovatas  exhibuere  comitiis  Augus- 
tanis,  et  sospites  abiere?  Haud  secus  litterae  Tri- 
dentinae  locupletissimas  adversario  cautiones  pro- 
viderant:1  uti  noluit.  Nimirum  se  iactat  in 
angulis,  in  quibus  ubi  tria  verba  graeca  sonuerit, 
sapere  videatur ;  abhorret  a  luce,  quae  litteratorem 
in  numero  poneret,  et  ad  honesta  subsellia  devo- 
caret.  Catholicis  Anglis  tale  chirographum  impu- 
nitatis  impetrent,  si  diligunt  salutem  animarum. 
Nos  Hussium  non  causabimur;  verbo  Principis 
innixi,  convolabimus. 

Sed  ut,  unde  sum  egressus,  eo  regrediar,  Concilia 
generalia  mea  sunt,  primum,  ultimum,  media;  his 
pugnabo.  Hastam  exspectet  adversarius  amenta- 
tarn,  quam  avellere  numquam  poterit.  Prosternatur 
in  eo  satanas,  Christus  vivat. 

1  Vide  Cone.  Trid.  sess.   n,  I  5  et  18. 


54  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

QVINTA  RATIO 

PATRES 

Antiochiae,  qua  primum  in  urbe  Christianorum 
nobile  cognomentum  increbuit,  Doctores,1  id  est, 
eminentes  theologi ;  et  Prophetae,  id  est,  conciona- 
tores  perquam  celebres,  floruerunt.  Huiusce  gene 
ris  "  scribas  et  sapientes,  doctos  in  regno  Dei,  nova 
promentes  et  vetera,"2  Christum  callentes  et  Moy- 
sem,  Dominus  ipse  futures  gregi  prospexerat.  Hos, 
ingentis  beneficii  loco  donates,  explodere,  quanti 
maleficii  est?  Explosit  adversarius.  Quid  ita? 
Quia  stantibus  illis,  concidisset.  Id  ego  quum  pro 
certissimo  comperissem,  pugnam  simpliciter  exop- 
tavi,  non  illam  iocularem,  qua  turbae  velitantur 
in  compitis,  sed  istam  severam  et  acrem,  qua  con- 
gredimur  in  vestris  Philosophorum  spatiis: 

— pede  pes,  densusque  viro  vir. 

Ad  Patres  si  quando  licebit  accedere,  confectum 
est  praelium ;  tarn  sunt  nostri,  quam  Gregorius  ipse 
decimus  tertius,  filiorum  Ecclesiae  Pater  amantis- 
simus.  Nam  ut  omittam  loca  sparsa,  quae  ex  mon- 
nmentis  veterum  conquisita,  nostram  fidem  apposite 
affirmateque  propugnant;  tenemus  horum  integra 
volumina,  quae  de  industria  religionem,  quam  tue- 
mur,  evangelicam  distincte  copioseque  dilucidant. 
Duplex  Hierarchia  Martyris  Dionysii3  quas  classes, 

1  Act.   xiii.    i;     i   Cor.  xii.    28;    Ephes.   iv.    n;     i   Cor. 
xiv.,  i  et  seq. 

2  Matth.  xiii.   52. 

3  S.   Dion.   Areop.   de  quo  vide.    6  Syn.   act.    4,   Adon., 
Tren.   in  martyr.   Turon.,   Syng.,   Suid.,   Metap. 


RATIONES    DECEM  55 

quae  sacra,  quos  ritus  edocet?  Pupugit  ea  res  Lu- 
therum'1  tarn  valde,  ut  huius  opera  "  simillima  som- 
niis,  nee  non  perniciosissima  "  iudicaret.  Imitatus 
parentem  Caussaeus,2  nescio  quis  terrae  films,  ex 
Gallia,  non  est  veritus  hunc  Dionysium,  inclytae 
gentis  Apostolum,  vocitare  "  delirum  senem."  Cen- 
turiatores 3  vehementer  offendit  Ignatius  et  Calvin- 
um,4  ut  in  eius  epistolis  "  deformes  naevos,  et 
putidas  naenias  "  hominum  quisquiliae  notarint. 
Censorious5  illis  "fanaticum  quiddam  "  Irenaeus 
edixit;  Clemens  auctor  Stromatum  "  zizania  fae- 
cesque  protulit;"6  reliqui  Patres  huius  aevi,  sane 
apostolici  viri,  "  blasphemias  et  monstra  posteris  re- 
liquerunt."  In  Tertulliano  rapiunt  avide,  quod  a 
nobis  edocti,  nobiscum  communiter  detestentur; 
sed  meminerint  libellum  de  Praescriptionibus,7  qui 
nostri  temporis  sectaries  tarn  insigniter  perculit, 
numquam  fuisse  reprehensum.  Hippolytus,  Por- 
tuensis8  episcopus,  quam  belle,  quam  clare  Anti- 
christi  nervum,  lutherana  tempora,  praemonstravit? 
Eum  propterea  "  scriptorem  infantissimum  et  lar- 
vam  "  nominant.  Cyprianum,  delicias  et  clecus 
Africae,  Gallicanus  ille  criticus'Jet  Magdeburgici10 
44  stupidum,  et  destitutum  Deo,  et  depravatorem 
poenitentiae  "  nuncuparunt.  Quid  admisit?  Scrip- 

1  Comm.  in  i,  13,  17  Deut.  Item  in  capt.  Babyl. 

2  Dial.  5  et  I  r. 

3  Cent.  2,  c.    10. 

4  Inst.  1.   i,  c.   13,  n.  29. 

5  Cent.  2,  c.  5. 

6  Cent.    I,  1.   2,  c.    10  et  seq. 

7  Tert.  1.  de  praescr.  contr.  haer. 

8  Orat.  de  cos.  secul. 

9  Causs.  dial.  8  et   1 1. 
10  Cent.   3,  c.   4. 


56  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

sit  enim  de  virginibus,  de  lapsis,  de  unitate  Eccle- 
siae  tractationes  euismodi,  eas  etiam  epistolas  Cor- 
nelio,  Romano  Pontifici,  ut  nisi  fides  huic  martyri 
detrahatur,  Petrus  Martyr  Vermilius,  omnesque 
cum  eo  foederati,  peiores  adulteris  et  sacrilegis 
habeantur.  Ac  ne  singulis  insistam  diutius,  Patres 
hums  saeculi  damnantur  omnes,  "  quippe  qui  doc- 
trinam  de  poenitentia  mire  depravarint."1  Quo 
pacto?  Nam  austeritas  canonum,  quae  viguit  ea 
tempestate,  maiorem  in  modum  displicet  huic  sec- 
tae  plausibili,  quae  tricliniis  aptior,  quam  templis, 
voluptarias  aures  titillare  et  pulvillos  omni  cubito2 
solet  assuere. 

Quid  aetas  proxima,  quid  peccavit?  Chrysosto- 
mus  et  ii  Patres  "  iustitiam  fidei  foede  "  videlicet 
"  obscurarunt."3  Nazianzenus,  quern  honoris  causa, 
Theologum  veteres  appellarunt,  Caussaeo4  iudice, 
"  Tabulator,  quid  affirmaret,  nesciit."  Ambrosius 
"  a  cacodaemone  fascinatus  est."  Hieronymus 
"  aeque  damnatus,  atque  diabolus:  iniuriosus  Apo- 
stolo, 5  blasphemus,  sceleratus,  impius."  "  Vnus  " 
Gregorio  Massovio6  "  pluris  est  Calvinus,  quam 
centum  Augustini."  Parum  est,  centum;  Lutherus7 
"  nihili  facit  adversum  se  mille  Augustinos,  mille 
Cyprianos,  mille  Ecclesias."  Longius  rem  dedu- 
cere,  supervacaneum  puto.  Nam  in  hos,  qui  bac- 


1  Ibid. 

2Ezech.  xiii.   18. 

3  Praef.   in  Cent.    5. 

4  Dial.   6,  7,  8. 

5  Beza  in  act.  c.   23,  v.   3. 

6  Test.  Stanch.  1.  de  Trinit. 

7  Contr.  Henr.  reg.  Angl. 


RATIONES    DECEM  57 

chantur,  quis  miretur  in  Optatum,  Athanasium, 
Hilarium,  Cyrillos,  Epiphanium,  Basilium,  Vincen- 
tium,  Fulgentium,  Leon  em,  Gregoriumque  Roma- 
num  fuisse  procacissimos? 

Quamquam  si  datur  ulla  rebus  iniustis  iusta  de- 
fensio,  non  inficior  habere  Patres,  ubicumque  inci- 
deris,  quod  isti,  dum  sibi  consentiunt,  necessario 
stomachentur.  Etinem  qui  odere  stata  ieiunia, 
quo  animo  oportet  esse  in  Basilium,  Nazianzenum, 
Chrysostomum,  qui  de  quadragesima  et  indictis 
ieiuniorum  feriis,  tamquam  de  rebus  iam  usitatis, 
conciones  egregias  publicarunt?  Qui  suas  animas 
auro,  libidine,  crapula  et  ambitiosis  conspectibus 
vendiderunt,  possuntne  non  esse  inimicissimi  Basi- 
lio,  Chrysostomo,  Hieronymo,  Augustino,  quorum 
excellentes  libri  de  monachorum  institute,  regula, 
virtutibus,  teruntur? 

Qui  captivam  hominis  voluntatem  invexere,  qui 
Christiana  funebria  sustulere,  qui  Divorum  reliquias 
incendere,  sintne  placabiles  Augustino,  qui  de  libero 
arbitrio  libros  tres,  de  cura  pro  mortuis  unum,  de 
miraculis  ad  Basilicas  et  memorias  Martyrum  pro- 
lixum  caput  nobilissimi  operis1  et  conciones  aliquot 
exaravit?  Qui  fidem  suis  captiunculis  metiuntur, 
nonne  succenseant  Augustino,  cuius  est  insignis 
epistola,2  qua  se  profitetur  antiquitati,  consensioni, 
successioni  perpetuae  et  Ecclesiae,  quae  sola  inter 
tot  haereses  Catholicae  nomen  usucapione  vindicat 
assentire? 

1  Lib.  22  de  Civit.  Dei  c.  8  et  serm.  de  divers.  34 
et  seq. 

*  Contr.  ep.  Man.  quam  vocant  funda  c.   4. 


58  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

Optatus,  Milevitanus  episcopus,  Donatianam 
partem  revincit1  ex  communione  Catholica;  nequi- 
tiam  accusat  ex  decreto  Melchiadis  (lib.  i);  hae- 
resim  refutat  ex  ordine  Romanorum  Pontificum 
(lib.  2) ;  insaniam  patefacit  ex  Eucharistia  et 
chrismate  contaminatis  (lib.  3);  sacrilegium  horret 
ex  diffractis  altaribus  "  in  quibus  Christi  membra 
portata  sunt,"  pollutisque  calicibus  "  qui  Christi 
sanguinem  tenuerunt,"  (lib.  6).  De  Optato  quid 
sentiant,  aveo  scire,  quem  Augustinus2  ut  venera- 
bilem  et  catholicum  episcopum,  Ambrosio  parem 
et  Cypriano ;  quem  Fulgentius 3  ut  sanctum  et  fide- 
lem  Pauli  interpretem,  Augustini  similem  et  Am- 
brosii,  meminerunt. 

Athanasii  Symbolum  in  templis  concinunt.  Num 
favent  ei,  qui  Antonium  Eremitam  Aegyptium,4 
gravis  auctor,  accurate  libello  dilaudaverit,  quique 
cum  Alexandrina  Synodo5  iudicium  Sedis  Aposto- 
licae,  Divi  Petri,  suppliciter  appellant?  Prudentius 
in  hymnis  quoties  precatur  Martyres,  quos  decan- 
tat?  Quoties  ad  eorum  cineres  et  ossa  Regem  Mar- 
tyrum  veneratur?  Num  hunc  probabunt?  Hiero- 
nymus  pro  Divorum  reliquiis  et  honoribus  scribit 
in  Vigilantium,  in  lovinianum  pro  virginitatia 
gradu.  Huccine  patientur?  Ambrosius6  tutores 
suos  Gervasium  et  Protasium,  celebritate  notissima, 
in  Arianam  ignominiam  honestavit ;  cui  facto  divi- 

1  Lib.    i   contr.    Parmen. 

2  Aug.    1.     i.    contr.    Parmen.;    De    unit,    c    16;     et    De 
doctr.  christ.  c.   40. 

3  Lib.  2  ad  Monim. 

4  Vide  S.  Hieron.  de  Script.  Eccles. 

5  Vide  Epist.    Syn.   Alexandr.   ad   Felic.    2. 

6  Epist.  ad  Ital.  Item  serm.  91. 


RATIONES   DECEM  59 

nissimi  Patres1  encomium  tribuere:  quod  factum 
Deus  non  uno  prodigio  decoravit.  Num  benevoli 
sunt  Ambrosio  futuri?  Gregorius  Magnus,  noster 
Apostolus,  planissime  noster  est,  eoque  nomine  nos- 
tris  adversariis  odiosus ;  quern  Calvini2  rabies  negat 
in  schola  sancti  Spiritus  educatum,  propterea  quod 
sacras  imagines  illitteratorum  libros  appellasset. 

Dies  me  deficeret  numerantem  epistolas,  conci- 
ones,  homilias,  orationes,  opuscula,  disceptationes 
Patrum,  in  quibus  ex  apparato  graviter  et  ornate 
nostra  catholicorum  dogmata  roborarunt.  Quam- 
diu  apud  bibliopolas  ista  venierint,  tamdiu  frustra 
nostrorum  codices  prohibentur;  frustra  servantur 
aditus  oraeque  maritimae;  frustra  domus,  arcae, 
scrinia,  capsulae  disquiruntur ;  frustra  tot  portis 
minaces  tabulae  suffiguntur.  Nullus  enim  Hardin- 
gus,  nee  Sanderus,  nee  Stapletonus,  nee  Bristolius 
haec  nova  somnia  vehementius,  quam  hi,  quos  re- 
censui,  Patres,  insectantur.  Talia  cogitanti  accrevit 
animus  et  desiderium  pugnae,  in  qua,  quoquo  se 
moverit  adversarius,  nisi  gloriam  Deo  cesserit,  feret 
incommodum.  Patres  admiserit,  captus  est;  ex- 
cluserit,  nullus  est. 

Adolescentibus  nobis  ita  contigit.  loannes  Ivel- 
lus  antesignanus  calvinianorum  Angliae,  catholicos 
ad  Divi  Pauli  Londinensium  incredibili  iactantia 
laoessivit,  invocatis  per  hypocrisim  et  imploratis  Pa- 
tribus,  quicumque  intra  salutis  annum  sexcentesi- 
mum  claruisset.  Accipiunt  conditionem  memora- 

1  Aug.  1.  22  de   Civ.  Dei ;    Greg.  Tur.   1.   de  glor,  Mart. 
c.  46  et  Metaph. 

2  Instit.  1.   i,  c.   n,  n.   5. 


60  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

biles  viri,  qui  turn  exsulabant  Lovanii,  summis  licet 
difficultatibus  propter  iniquitatem  suorum  tem- 
porum  circumsepti.  Ausim  dicere,  tanto  popularibus 
nostris  bono  fuisse  illam  Ivellii  astutiam,  inscitiam, 
improbitatem,  impudentiam,  quas  ii  scriptores  feli- 
citer  expanderunt,  ut  vix  aliud  quidquam,  memoria 
mea,  provenerit  Anglorum  Ecclesiae  laboranti  f  ruo 
tuosius.  Edictum  continue  valvis  appenditur,  ne 
qui  codices  illiusmodi  legerentur,  neve  haberentur. 
Quum  tantis  clamoribus  propemodum  extorti  pro- 
diissent,  didicere  quicumque  negotium  attigissent, 
Patres  fuisse  catholicos,  id  est,  nostros.  Neque 
hoc  sibi  suisque  vulnus  inflictum  Laurentius  Hum- 
fredus1  tacuit;  qui  quum  alte  Ivellum  quoad  cae- 
tera  sustulisset,  unam  ei  notam  aspersit  inconsid- 
erantiae,  quod  Patrum  calculos  recepisset,  quibus- 
cum  sibi  nihil  esse  commercii,  nee  fore,  sine  ulla 
circuitione  proloquitur. 

Pertentavimus  etiam  familiariter  aliquando  To- 
biam  Matthaeum,  qui  nunc  in  concionibus  domina- 
tur,  quern  propter  bonas  artes  et  virtutum  semina 
dileximus,  ut  responderet  ingenue,  possetne  qui 
Patres  assiduus  lectitaret,  istarum  esse  partium, 
quas  ille  suaserat.  Retulit,  non  posse,  si  pariter 
eos  legeret  iisque  crederet.  Verissimum  hoc  ver- 
bum  est,  neque  aliter  eum  nunc,  aut  Mattheum  Hut- 
tonum,  qui  vir  nominatus  in  paucis,  versare  Patres 
dicitur,  aut  reliquos  adversaries,  qui  hoc  faciunt, 
sentire  arbitror. 

Hactenus  ergo  securus  in  hanc  aciem  potui  des- 
cendere,  bellaturus  cum'  iis,  qui  quasi  auribus  lupum 
teneant,  aeternam  causae  maculam  cogantur  inu- 

1  Lib.  de  vita  Ivelli. 


RATIONES    DECEM  61 

rere,  sive  recusent  Patres,  sive  deposcant.     Nam  in 
altero  fugam  adornant,  in  altero  suffocantur. 

SEXTA  RATIO 
FIRMAMENTVM  PATRVM 

Si  quibus  umquam  cordi  curaeque  fuit  id,  quod 
maximopere  nostris  fuit  et  esse  debet:  "  Scruta- 
mini  Scripturas,"1  facile  princeps  et  palmares  in 
hoc  genere  sanctissimi  Patres  exstitere.  Horum 
opera  sumptuque  tot  gentibus  et  linguis  transcripta 
Biblia  et  importata  sunt ;  horum  periculis  et  crucia- 
tibus  erepta  de  flammis  hostilibus  et  vastitate; 
horum  laboribus  et  vigiliis  omnem  in  partem  enu- 
cleata  studiosissime ;  die  noctuque  sacras  Litteras 
imbibere,  de  suggestibus  omnibus  sacras  Litteras 
edidere,  immensa  volumina  sacris  Litteris  ditavere, 
fidelissimis  commentariis  sacras  Litteras  explicuere 
cibos  et  inediam  sacris  Litteris  condivere,  occupati 
denique  sacris  in  Litteris,  ad  senectutem  decrepi- 
tam  pervenere. 

Quod  si  frequenter  ipsi  quoque  ab  auctoritate 
maiorum,  ab  Ecclesiae  praxi,  a  successione  Ponti- 
ficum,  a  Conciliis  oecumenicis,  a  traditionibus 
apostolicis,  a  cruore  Martyrum,  a  scitis  Praesu- 
lum,  a  visis  eventisque  mirabilibus  argumentati 
sunt ;  tamen  omnium  maxime  et  libentissime  sanc- 
tarum  Litterarum  testimonia  densa  conglobant, 
haec  premunt,  in  his  habitant,  huic  "  armaturae 
fortium  "  duces  robustissimi,  sarta  tecta  civitatis 
Dei  contra  nef  arios  impetus  quotidie  munientes,  op- 
timo  iure  primas  partes  honoratissimasque  porri- 
gunt. 

1  loan.  v.   39. 


62  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

Quo  magis  demiror  illam  exceptionem  adversarii 
superbam  et  fatuam,  qui  velut  aquam  in  profluente 
quaeritans,  sic  in  Scripturis  confertissimis  Scriptu- 
rarum  penuriam  obiectat.  Tantisper  se  Patribus 
assensurum  dicit,  dum  sacris  Litteris  adhaerescunt. 
Num  loquitur  ex  animo?  Curabo  igitur  procedant 
armati  atque  stipati  Christo,  Prophetis,  Apostolis 
atque  omni  apparatu  biblico,  celeberrimi  auctores, 
antiquissimi  Patres,  sanctissimi  viri,  Dionysius, 
Cyprianus,  Athanasius,  Basilius,  Nazianzenus,  Am- 
brosius,  Hieronymus,  Chrysostomus,  Augustinus, 
latinusque  Gregorius.  Regnet  in  Anglia  fides  ilia, 
quam  hi  Patres,  amicissimi  Scripturarum,  ex  Scrip 
turis  exstruunt.  Quas  afferunt,  afferemus;  quas 
conferunt,  confer  emus;  quod  inferunt,  inferemus. 
Placet?  Excrea,  die  sodes — Minime  vero,  inquis, 
nisi  recte  exponant — Quid  est  hoc  ipsum,  recte? 
Arbitratu  tuo.  Nihilne  pudet  labyrinthi? 

Ergo  quum  sperem  in  Academiis  florentissimis 
consociatum  iri  bene  multos,  qui,  non  pingui  Min 
erva,  sed  acuto  iudicio  in  has  controversias  inspec- 
turi  sunt,  et  horum  responsa  nugatoria  libraturi, 
laetus  hunc  diem  campi  praestolabor,  ut  qui  contra 
sylvestres  tumulos  mendiculorum  inermium  nobili- 
tatem  et  robur  Ecclesiae  Christi  cogitem  educere. 

SEPTIMA  RATIO 

HISTORIA 

Pristinam  Ecclesiae  faciem  historia  prisca  rete- 
git.  Hue  provoco.  Certe  antiquiores  historici, 
quos  etiam  usurpant  adversarii,  fere  numerantur 
Eusebius,  Damasus,  Hieronymus,  Ruffinus,  Orosius, 


RATIONES    DECEM  63 

Socrates,  Sozomenus,  Theodoretus,  Cassiodorus, 
Gregorius  Turonensis,  Vsuardus,  Regino,  Marianus 
Sigebertus,  Zonaras,  Cedrenus,  Nicephorus.  Quid 
narrant?  Nostrorum  laudes,  progressus,  vicissitu- 
dinem,  hostes.  Imo  vero,  quod  observes  diligenter, 
illi  qui  dissident  a  nobis  odio  capitali,  Philippus, 
Pantaleon,  Funecius,  Magdeburgici,  quum  se  ad 
scribendam  vel  chronologiam  Ecclesiae  vel  histor- 
iam  appulissent,  nisi  nostrorum  gesta  colligerent, 
ac  inimicorum  Ecclesiae  nostrae  fraudes  et  scelera 
coacervarent,  mille  quingentos  annos  argumento 
vacui  praetermitterent. 

Cum  his  considera  peculiares  certarum  historio- 
graphos  regionum,  qui  unius  acta  cuiusque  populi 
curiosius  operosiusque  scrutati  sunt.  li  quasi  Spar- 
tam  adepti,  quam  locupletare  modis  omnibus  et 
perpolire  cuperent,  qui  ne  convivia  quidem  lautiora, 
aut  manicatas  tunicas,  aut  pugionum  capulos,  aut 
inaurata  calcaria,  talesque  minutias,  si  novitatem 
saperent,  tacuere;  profecto,  si  quid  in  religione 
mutatum,  aut  a  primis  degeneratum  saeculis  inau- 
dissent,  f  requentes  memorassent ;  si  non  f  requentes, 
saltern  aliqui:  si  non  aliqui,  unus  aliquis  absque 
dubio.  Nullus  omnino,  neque  benevolus  nobis, 
neque  malevolus,  non  modo  quidquam  tale  prodi- 
dit,  sed  nee  significavit. 

Verbi  gratia.  Dant  nobis  adversarii,  nee  aliter 
possunt,  fuisse  Romanam  Ecclesiam  aliquando 
Sanctam,  Catholicam,  Apostolicam:  turn  quum 
haec  a  Divo  Paulo  promeruisset  elogia:1  "  Vestra 
fides  annuntiatur  in  universo  mundo:  sine  inter- 

1  Rom.   i,  8,  9,;   xv.  29;   xvi,   16,   19. 


64  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

missione  memoriam  vestri  facio:  Scio  quia  veniens 
ad  vos,  in  abundantia  benedictionis  Christ!  veniam : 
Salutant  vos  omnes  Ecclesiae  Christi:  Vestra  enim 
obedientia  in  omnem  locum  divulgata  est."  Turn 
quum  ibi  Paulus  in  libera  custodia1  disseminaret 
Evangelium ;  turn  quum  in  ea  quondam  "  Babylone 
coelectam  Ecclesiam  "2  Petrus  regeret;  turn  quum 
ille  Clemens,3  apprime  laudatus  ab  Apostolo,4  sed- 
eret  ad  ipsa  gubernacula;  turn  quum  profani  Cae- 
sares,5  ut  Nero,  Domitianus,  Traianus,  Antoninus, 
Romanos  Pontifices  laniarent;  turn  etiam,  vel  Cal- 
vino6  teste,  quum  Damasus,  Siricius,  Anastasius, 
Innocentius,  clavum  tenerent  Apostolicum.  Hoc 
enim  saeculo  nihil  adhuc,  praesertim  Romae,  di- 
gressos  ab  Evangelica  doctrina,  liberaliter  ille 
concedit. 

Quando  igitur  hanc  fidem  tantopere  celebratam 
Roma  perdidit?  Quando  esse  desiit,  quod  ante 
fuit?  Quo  tempore,  quo  Pontifice,  qua  via,  qua  vi, 
quibus  incrementis  urbem  et  orbem  religio  pervasit 
aliena?  Quas  voces,  quas  turbas,  quae  lamenta 
progenuit?  Omnes  orbe  reliquo  sopiti  sunt,  dum 
Roma,  Roma,  inquam,  nova  sacramenta,  novum 
sacrificium,  novum  religionis  dogma  procuderet? 
Nullus  exstitit  historicus  neque  latinus,  neque  grae- 
cus,  neque  remotus,  neque  citimus,  qui  rem  tantam 
vel  obscure  iaceret  in  commentarios? 


1  Act.   xxviii.    30. 

2  i  Pet.  v.    13. 

3  Hieron.   in  cap.   script.   Eccles.;    Euseb.    2  hist.c,    14* 

4  Phillip,  iv,  3. 

5  Iren.  1.  3,  c.  3. 

6  Inst.  1.  4,  c.  2,  n.  3  et  in  epist.  ad  Sadol. 


RATIONES    DECEM  65 

Ergo  perspicuum  hoc  quidem  est,  si,  quae  nos 
credimus,  historia  multa  et  varia,  nuntia  vetus- 
tatis,  vita  memoriae,  loquitur  ac  repetit  affluenter; 
quae  vero  isti  obtrudunt,  nulla  naratio  post  homines 
natos  in  Ecclesia  valuisse  commeminit:  et  Histori- 
cos  esse  meos,  et  incursiones  adversarias  esse  frigi- 
dissimas,  quae  nihil  movere  possint,  nisi  prius  re- 
ceptum  sit,  omnes  omnium  temporum  christianos  in 
spissam  perfidiam  atque  in  gehennae  voraginem 
corruisse,  donee  Lutherus  Boram  constuprasset. 

OCTAVA  RATIO 
PARADOXA 

Ego  vero,  praestantissimi  viri,  quum  de  multis 
haeresibus  quaedam  apud  me  opiniosissimorum 
portenta  reputo,  quae  mihi  venient  expugnanda; 
meipsum  inertiae  nequitiaeque  condemnem,  si  cui- 
usquam  in  experiundo  facultatem  aut  vires  extim- 
escerem.  Sit  ingeniosus,  sit  eloquens,  sit  exercita- 
tus,  sit  omnium  librorum  helluo;  tamen  aridus  et 
balbus  appareat  necesse  est,  quum  haec  tarn  "  adu- 
nata  *'  sustentabit.  Disputabitur  enim,  si  forte  nobis 
annuent,  de  Deo,  de  homine,  de  peccato,  de  iustitia, 
de  sacrimentis,  de  moribus.  Videro  an  ausint  asse- 
verare,  quae  sentiunt,  quaeque,  rebus  addicti  neces- 
sariis,  divulgant  in  scriptiunculis.  Faxo  norint  ista 
suorum  axiomata. 

DE  DEO. — "  Deus  est  auctor  et  causa1  peccati, 
volens,  suggerens,  efficiens,  iubens,  operans,  et  in 
hoc  impiorum  scelerata  consilia  gubernans.  Pro- 

1  Calv.   Inst.  1.    i,  c.   18;    1.   2,  c.  4;   1  3,  cc.  23  et  24; 
Petr.  Mart,  in  i,  Sam.  2. 

F 


66  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

prium  Dei  opus  fuit, l  ut  vocatio  Pauli,  sic  adul- 
terium  Davidis,  ludaeque  proditoris  impietas." 
Monstrum  hoc,  cuius  Philippum  aliquando  puduit, 
Lutherus2  tamen,  a  quo  Philippus  hauserat,  quasi 
oraculum  coeleste  miris  extollit  laudibus,  et  alum- 
num  suum  eo  nomine  tantum  non  exaequat3  Apos- 
tolo  Paulo.  Percontabor  etiam,  quid  animi  Luthero 
fuerit,  quern  Angli4  calviniani  "  virum  divinitus 
datum  ad  orbem  illuminandum "  pronuntiant, 
quum  hunc  versum  demeret  supplicationibus  Eccle- 
siae.6  "  Sancta  Trinitas,  unus  Deus,  miserere  no- 
bis." 

DE  CHRISTO. — Mox  ad  personam  Christi  progre- 
diar.  Quaeram  ista  sibi  quid  velint ;  Christus  Dei, 
Filius,  Deus  de  Deo?  Calvino:6  "  Deus  ex  sese," 
Bezae:7  "  Non  est  genitus  de  Patris  essentia." 
Item:  "  Duae  constituantur  in  Christo  uniones  hy- 
postaticae,8  altera  animae  cum  carne,  Divinitatis 
cum  humanitate  altera."  "  Locus  apud  loannem: " 
'  Ego  et  Pater  unum  sumus/  non  ostendit  Chris 
tum  Deum  *  homoousion '9  Deo  Patri."  Sed  et 
'anima  mea,  in  quit  Lutherus,10  odit  hoc  verbum 
'homoousion.'"  Pergite:  "Christus  ab  infantia 

1  Melanct.  in  cap.  Rom.  8. 

2  Sic  docet  Luth.  in  asser.   36  et  in  resol.  asser.   36  et 
in  libr.  de  servo  arbitrio. 

3  Praef .  in  Phillip,  in  ep.  ad  Rom. 

4  In   Apol.   Eccl.   Anglic. 
'Vide  enchir.  prec.  an.    1541. 

0  Calv.   Inst.  1.   i,  c.   13,  n.   23,  24. 
T  Beza  in  Hes. 

8  Beza   cont.    Schmidel.    1.    de   unitat.    hypost.     duas    in 
Christ,  nat. 

9  Calv.  in  loan,  x,  30. 
*°  Luth.  contr.  Latom, 


RATIONES    DECEM  67 

non  fuit  gratia  constimmatus, 1  sed  animi  dotibus 
velut  caeteri  homines  adolevit :  usu  factus  quotidie 
sapientior,  ita  ut  puerulus  ignorantia  laborarit." 
Quod  perinde  est,  ac  si  dicer ent  originis  labe  et 
vitio  sordidatum.  Sed  cognoscite  diriora:  "  Chris- 
tus,  quum  orans  in  horto,  sudoribus  aquae  manaret 
et  sanguinis,  sensu  damnationis  aeternae  cohorruit :  2 
vocem  edidit  sine  ratione,  sine  spiritu,  vocem  doloris 
impetu  repentinam,  quam,  ut  non  satis  meditatam, 
celeriter  castigavit."  Estne  aliquid  amplius?  At- 
tendite:  "  Christus,  quum  actus  in  crucem  excla- 
maret : "  '  Deus  meus,  Deus  meus,  ut  quid  dereli- 
quisti  me?'  accensus  est  flammis  inferni,3  desper- 
ationis  vocem  emisit,  non  aliter  affectus,  quam  si 
pereundum  ei  foret  internecione  sempiterna." 

His  etiam,  si  quid  possunt,  addant:  "  Christus, 
inquiunt, 4  descendit  ad  inferos,  id  est,  mortuus  ge- 
hennam  gustavit,  nihilo  minus  quam  animae  dam- 
natorum,  nisi  quod  sibi  restituendus  erat. — Quan- 
doquidem  enim  morte  corporea  nobis  nihil  profuis- 
set:  6  anima  quoque  luctari  cum  morte  debuit 
aeterna,  atque  hoc  modo  nostrum  scelus  supplici- 
umque  dependere."  Ac  ne  quis  forte  suspicetur, 
istud  Calvino  per  incuriam  obrepsisse,  idem  Cal- 
vinus:  6  '*  Omnes  vos,  si  qui  doctrinam  istam  solatii 

1  Bucer.  in  Luc.   2;    Calv.  in  har.  ev.;    Luc.  Los.;    Me- 
lanct.   in  ev.  Dom.    i   p.  Epiph. 

2  Marlorat.    in   Matth.    26;    Calv.    in   harm,    eveng. 

3  Brent,  in  Luc.  part.   2,  horn.   65  et  in  loan.  horn.   54; 
Calv.  in  harm,  evang. 

*  Schmidel.  Cone,  de  pass,  et  coena  Dom.;  Aepinus 
comm.  in  Ps.  16. 

6  Calv.  Inst.  1.  2,  c.  16,  n.  10,  n;  Brent,  in  catech, 
an.  1551. 

6  Ibid.  n.  12, 


68  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

plenam  exagitastis,  perditos"  appellat  "nebulones." 
Tempora,  tempora,  cuiusmodi  monstrum  aluistis? 
Cruor  ille  delicatus  et  regius,  qui  de  innocentis 
Agni  oorpore  lacerato  fissoque  scaturiit,  cuius  cru- 
oris  una  guttula  propter  dignitatem  Hostiae  mille 
mundos  redimere  potuisset,  nihil  humano  generi 
profecit,  nisi  "  mediator  Dei  et  hominum  ( I  Tim. 
ii.  5),  homo  Christus  lesus  mortem  quoque  secun- 
dam  (Apoc.  ii.  1 1),"  mortem  animae,  mortem  gra- 
tiae,  peccati  solius  et  exsecrabilis  blasphemiae 
sociam,  pertulisset?  Prae  hac  insania  modestus 
videbitur  Bucerus,  quamquam  est  impudens,  qui1 
infernum  in  symbolo  sepulcrum  accipit,  per  epex- 
egesim  valde  praeposteram,  ac  potius  tautologiam 
ineptam  atque  stolidam. 

Anglicani  sectarii,  pars  Calvino,  idolo  suo,  pars 
Bucero,  magno  magistro,  solent  accedere;  pars 
etiam  submurmurant  in  hunc  articulum,  ne  quid 
facessat  ultra  molestiae,  quemadmodum  sine  tu- 
multu  penitus  eximatur  de  Symbolo.  Id  vero  etiam 
fuisse  tentatum  in  conventiculo  quodam  Londi- 
nensi,  memini  narrasse  mihi,  qui  interfuit,  Richar- 
dum  Chenaeum,  miserrimum  senem,  male  mulcta- 
tum  a  latronibus  foris,  neque  tamen  ingressum  in 
paternam  domum.  Hactenus  de  Christo. 

DE  HOMINE.— De  homine2  quid?  "  Imago  Dei 
penitus  in  homine  deleta  est,  nulla  boni  scintilla 
superstite :  tota  natura  quoad  omnes  animae  partes 
ita  f unditus  eversa,  ut  ne  renatus  quidem  et  sanctus 

1  Buc.  in  Matt.  cap.   26. 

2  Illyr.   in  yar.  1.   de  orig.  pecc.;    Sarcer.  de  cons.  vet. 
Eccles.;    Aepinus  de  imb.   et  pecc.   Sanct.;    Kemn.  contra 
cens.  col.;   Calv.  Inst.  1.  4,  c.   15,  n.  10,   1 1, 


RATIONES    DECEM  69 

quidquam  sit  aliud  intrinsecus,  nisi  mera  corruptio 
atque  contagio."  Quorsum  ista?  Vt  qui  sola  fide 
gloriam  rapturi  sunt,  in  omnium  turpitudinum  coe- 
no  volutati,  naturam  accusent,  virtutem  desperent, 
praecepta  deonerent. 

DE  PECCATO. —  Hue  Illyricus,  Magdeburgen- 
sium  primipilus,  illud  suum  adiecit  immane  placi- 
tum1  de  originis  peccato,  quod  esse  vult:  "  Inti- 
mam  substantiam  animarum,  quippe  quas,  post 
Adami  lapsum,  diabolus  ipse  procreet,  et  in  sese 
transformet."  Hoc  quoque  tritum  est  in  hac  faece: 
"  Omnia  peccata  esse  paria:"2  sed  ita  (ne  Stoici 
reviviscant),  "  si  Deo  iudice  ponderentur."  Ac  si 
Deus,  aequissimus  iudex,  oneri  nostro  cumulum 
potius,  quam  levamentum  faceret,  et  id,  quod  non 
est  in  re,  quum  sit  ipse  iustissimus,  exaggeraret. 
Hac  trutina  non  levius  in  Deum  severissime  iudi- 
cantem  deliquerit  ille  caupo,  qui  gallum  gallina- 
ceum,  quando  non  est  opus,  occiderit,  quam  inf  amis 
ille  sicarius,  qui  plenus  Beza,  Gallum  heroa  Gui- 
sium,  admiribili  virtute  principem,  displosa  fistula 
interemit;  quo  facinore  nihil  vidit  orbis  noster 
aetate  nostra  funestius,  nihil  luctuosius. 

DE  GRATIA. —  Sed  fortasse,  qui  tarn  sunt  in  pec- 
cati  conditione  tetrici,  magnifice  philosophantur  de 
divina  gratia,  quae  huic  malo  succurrere  ac  mederi 
possit.  Praeclaras  vero  isti  partes  assignant  gra- 
tiae,  "  quam  neque  infusam  cordibus  nostris,  neque 
ad  resistendum  sceleribus  validam  esse  latrant,  sed 

1  Illyr.  in  var.  1.  de  pecc.  orig. — Vide  Hesbusium  in  ep. 
ad    Illyr. 

2  Calv.   in  antidot.  Cone.   Trid.— Idem  docuerat  Wiclef. 
apud.  Wald.  1.  2,  de  Sacr.  c.   154. 


/o  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

extra  nos  in  solo  Dei  favore1  collocant: "  qui  favor 
non  emendet  impios,  nee  purget,  nee  illuminet, 
nee  ditet;  sed  veterem  illam  sentinam  adhuc 
manantem  atque  foetentem,  ne  deformis  et 
odiosa  putetur,  Deo  connivente,  dissimulet.  Quo 
suo  plasmate  tantopere  delectantur,  ut  ne  "  Christus 
quidem  aliter  apud  illos2  gratia  plenus  et  veritate 
dicatur,  quam  quod  ei  Deus  Pater  mirandum  in 
modum  faverit." 

DE  IVISTITIA.— Quae  res  ergo  iustitia  est?  Rela- 
tio.3  Non  enim  ex  theologies  concinnata  virtutibus, 
fide,  spe,  charitate,  quae  animam  suo  nitore  con- 
vestiant;  sed  tantum  "  occultatio  delicti,  quam  qui 
sola  fide  prehenderit,  ille  tarn  de  salute  certus  est, 
ac  si  iampridem  interminato  coeli  gaudio4  fruere- 
tur."  Age,  somniet  hoc ;  sed  unde  constare  poterit 
de  futura  perseverantia,  qua  qui  caruit,  exivit  infe- 
licissimus,  licet  ad  tempus  pure  pieque  iustitiam 
coluisset?  Imo  vero,  "  haec  tua  fides,  Calvinus 
ait,5  nisi  tuam  tibi  perseverantiam  firme  pronuntiet, 
ut  hallucinari  nequeas,  tamquam  inanis  et  languida 
sperneretur."  Agnosco  discipulum  Lutheri.  "Chri- 
stianus,  inquit  ille6  etiam  volens,  non  potest  salu- 
tem  perdere,  nisi  nolit  credere." 

DE  SACRAMENTIS. — Ad  Sacramenta  festino. 
Nullum,  nullum,  non  duo,  non  unum,  O  Sancte 

1  Luth.  in  resp.  contra  Lovan. 

2  Bucer.  in  loan,    i;    Wald.  in  nat.  Christ! ;    Brent,  hom 
1 6  in  loan.;  Cent.  1.  i,  c.  4. 

8  Hesb.    de   iustif.    in   resp.    asv.    115   obiect.    Illyric.    in 
Apol.  confes.  Antuerp.  c.  6  de  iustif. 
4  Calv.  Inst.  1.  3,  c.  2,  n.  28  etc. 
*  Calv.  Inst.  1.  3,  c.  2,  n.  40. 
6  Lib.  de  capt.  Babyl.  , 


RATIONES    DECEM  71 

Christe,  reliquerant.  Ipsorum  quippe  panis  vene- 
num  est ;  Baptismus  etsi  adhuc  verus,  tamen  ipsorum 
iudicio  "  nihil  est,  non  est  unda  salutis,  non  est 
canalis  gratiae,  non  derivat  in  nos  Christ!  merita; 
sed  significatio  dumtaxat  salutis  est.  Itaque  ni- 
hilo  pluris  Baptismum  Christi,  quoad  naturam  rei, 
quam  loannis  facere  caeremoniam.  Si  habeas, 
recte;  si  careas,  nihil  damni:  crede,  salvus  es, 
antequam  abluare."1  Quid  ergo  parvuli,  qui  nisi 
iuventur  virtute  Sacramenti,  sua  fide  miselli  nihil 
assequuntur?  "  Potius  quam  Sacramento  Baptis- 
matis  quidquam  tribuamus,  inquiunt  Magdebur- 
gici,2  demus  inesse  fidem  ipsis  infantulis,  qua  ser- 
ventur,  cuius  fidei  pulsus  quosdam  abditos  intelli- 
gant  "  ipsi,  qui  vivant  necne,  nondum  intelligunt. 
Durum.  Si  hoc  adeo  durum  est,  Lutheri  pharma- 
cum  auditote:  "  Praestat,  in  quit,3  omittere,  quan- 
doquidem  nisi  credat  infans,  nequidquam  lavatur." 
Haec  illi  quidem  ancipites  animo,  quidnam  enun- 
tient  categorice.  Ergo  Balthassar  Pacimontanus 
diribitor  interveniat;  qui  parens  Anabaptistarum, 
quum  parvulis  motum  fidei  non  posset  affingere, 
Lutheri  cantiunculam  adprobavit,  et  paedobaptis- 
mum  eiiciens  e  templis,  "  neminen  nisi  adultum 
fonte  sacro  decrevit  abluere."  Ad  reliqua  Sacra- 
menta  quod  attinet,  quamvis  ilia  bestia  multiceps 
horrendas  eiectet  contumelias,  tamen  quia  quoti- 


1  Calv.  Inst.  1.  4,  c.  15,  n.  2  et  10;  Cent.  1.  i,  c.  10;  Luth. 
1.  de  capt.  Babyl. 

2  Cent.  2  et  5,  c.  4. 

3  Luth.   adv.  Cochlae,   Item  epist.  ad  Melanct.  t.   2;    et 
in  ep.  ad  Wald. 


72  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

dianae  iam  sunt  et  callum  auribus  obduxerunt,  hie 
praetereo. 

DE  MORIBVS. — Restant  haereticorum  de  vita  et 
moribus  frusta  nocentissima,  quae  Lutherus  evomit 
in  chartas,  ut  ex  unius  pectoris  impure  gurgustio 
pestem  lectoribus  inhalaret.  Audite  patienter,  et 
erubescite,  et  mihi  date  veniam  recitanti:  "  Si  nolit 
uxor1,  aut  non  possit,  veniat  ancilla.  Siquidem  res 
uxoria  tarn  est  cuique  necessaria,  quam  esca,  potus, 
somnus.  Matrimonium  est  virginitate  multo  prae- 
stantius;  earn  Christus,  earn  Paulus  dissuaserunt 
hominibus  christianis."  Sed  haec  fortasse  propria 
Lutheri  sunt?  Non  sunt.  Etiam  nuper  a  meo 
Charco,2  sed  misere  timideque  defenduntur.  Vultis 
ne  plura?  Quidni?  "  Quanto  sceleratior  es,  in- 
quit,3  tanto  vicinior  gratiae.  Omnes  actiones  bonae 
peccata  sunt ;  Deo  iudice,  mortif era ;  Deo  propitio, 
leviuscula4 — Nemo  malum  suapte  voluntate  cogi- 
tat5 — Decalogus  nihil  ad  christianos6 — Opera  nostra 
Deus  nequaquam  curat — Soli  recte  participant  coe- 
na  Dominica,  qui  tristes,  afflictas,  perturbatas,  con- 
fusas,  erraticas  apportant  conscientias. — Confitenda 
crimina  sunt,  sed  cuilibet,  qui  si  te  vel  ioco  ab- 
solverit,  modo  credideris,  absolutus  es. — Legere 
preces  horarias  non  est  sacerdotum,  sed  laicorum 
— Christian!  liberi  sunt  a  statutis  hominum."  Satis 


1  Luth.    serm.    de   matrim.    et   lib.    de   vit.    coniug.;    in 
asser.  art.    16;    lib.  de  vot.  monast. 

2  Chare,  in  Cens.  suum. 

3  Luth.  serm.  de  Pet.;   in  asser.  art.  32. 

4  Id.  1.  de  serv.  arbit. 
6  Id.  serm.  de  Moyse. 

6  Id.  1.  de  capt.  Bab.  c.  de  Euch. 


RATIONES    DECEM  73 

superque  lacunam  istam  commosse  videor.  lam 
finio.  Nee  vero  putetis  iniquiorem  esse  me,  qui 
lutheranos  et  zuinglianos  promiscue  coarguerim; 
nam  isti  memores  a  quo  proseminati  sint,  inter  se 
fratres  et  amici  volunt  esse,1  adeoque  gravem  in- 
terpretantur  iniuriam,  quum  in  ulla  re  praeter  im 
am,  discriminantur. 

Equidem  non  sum  tanti,  ut  vel  mediocrem  locum 
mihi  sumam  in  selectis  theologis,  qui  hodie  bellum 
haeresibus  indixere ;  sed  hoc  scio,  quantuluscumque 
sum,  periclitari  me  non  posse,  dum  Christi  gratia 
fultus  adversum  talia  commenta,  tarn  invisa,  tarn 
insulsa,  tarn  bruta,  coelo  terraque  iuvantibus,  prae- 
liabor. 

NONA  RATIO 

SOPHISMATA 

Scitum  est,  inter  caecos  luscum  regnare  posse. 
Apud  rudes  valet  saepe  fucata  disputatio,  quam 
schola  Philosophorum  exsibilat.  Multa  peccat  ad- 
versarius  in  hoc  genere ;  sed  quatuor  f allaciis  pler- 
umque  consuitur,  quas  in  Academia  malim,  quam 
in  trivio,  retexere. 

Primum  vitium  a-KLa^a-^ia  est,  quae  auras  et 
umbras  magno  contau  diverberat.  Hoc  pacto: 
contra  coelibes  iuratos  et  votos  in  castimoniam, 
quod  nuptiae  bonae  sint,  virginitas  melior,  offer- 
untur  Scripturae  loquentes  honorifice  de  coniugio. 
Quern  feriunt?  Contra  meritum  hominis  christiani, 
tinctum  Christi  sanguine,  alioquin  nullum,  promun- 

1  Apol.  Eccles.  Angl. 


74  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

tur  testimonia,  quibus  iubemur,  nee  naturae,  nee 
legi,  sed  sanguini  Christi  fidere.  Quern  refellunt? 
In  eos,  qui  colunt  Coelites,  ut  famulos  Christi 
maxime  gratiosos,  citantur  integrae  pagellae,  quae 
vetant  colere  multos  Deos.  Vbinam  sunt?  Huius- 
modi  argumentis,  quae  apud  haereticos  infinita  re- 
perio,  nobis  esse  detriment©  non  poterunt,  vobis 
esse  fastidio  poterunt. 

Aliud  vitium  ^070 payjia  est,  quae  sensa  de- 
serens,  loquaciter  cum  verbo  litigat,  "  Invenias  mi- 
hi  Missam,  inquiunt,  aut  Purgatorium  in  Scrip- 
turis."  Quid  ergo?  Trinitas,  Homoousion,  Per 
sona,  nusquam  sunt  in  Bibliis,  quia  voces  istae  non 
sunt?  Affine  est  huic  peccato  litterarum  aucupi- 
um ;  quum  neglecta  consuetudine  et  mente  loquen- 
tium,  quae  vita  vocabuli  est,  adversus  elementa  con- 
tenditur.  Nempe  sic  aiunt:  "Presbyter  nihil  est 
Graecis,  nisi  senior;  Sacramentum,  quodvis  mys- 
terium."  Caeterum  acute  D.  Thomas,1  ut  omnia: 
"  In  vocibus,  inquit,  videndum,  non  tarn  ex  quo, 
quam  ad  quid  sumantur." 

Tertium,  o/AcowfM/a  est,  longe  lateque  pa 
tens.  Vt:  "  Quorsum  ordo  sacerdotum,  quum 
loannes  (Apoc.  v.  10)  crimes  nos  vocaverit  sa- 
cer dotes?"  Etiam  hoc  addidit:  "  Regnabimus  su 
per  terrain."  Quorsum  ergo  reges?  Item:  "  Pro- 
pheta  (Isai.  LVIII.  6)  celebrat  ieiunium  spiritale, 
hoc  est,  ab  inveteratis  criminibus  abstinentiam. 
Valeat  ergo  ciborum  delectus,  et  dierum  praescrip- 
tio."  Siccine?  Igitur  insanierunt  Moyses,  David, 
Elias,  Baptistes,  Apostoli,  qui  biduo,  triduo,  vel 

1  In  i,  p.  q.   13,  a.  2  ad  2. 


RATIONES    DECEM  75 

hebdomadis  inediam  terminarunt ;  quae  quidem,  ut 
a  crimine,  debebat  esse  perpetua.  Hoc  quale  sit, 
iam  vidistis :  propero. 

Quartum  his  adiicitur  "  Circulatio,"  in  hunc  mo- 
dum:  Da  mihi  notas,  inquam,  Ecclesiae.  "  Ver- 
bum  Dei  et  purissima  Sacramenta."  Haeccine  sunt 
apud  vos?  "  Quis  dubitet?" — Ego  vero  pernego. 
"  Consule  verbum  Dei." — Iam  consului,  minusque 
vobis,  quam  antea,  faveo.  "  Attamen  planum  est." 
— Proba  mihi.  "  Quia  nos  ne  latum  quidem  un- 
guem  discedimus  a  verbo  Dei." — Vbi  est  acumen 
tuum?  Semperne  capies  pro  argumento  illud  ip- 
sum,  quod  ponitur  in  quaestione?  Quoties  hoc  iam 
inculco?  Num  tu  evigilas?  Num  faces  admoven- 
dae  sunt?  Dico  a  te  perperam  exponi  verbum  Dei: 
testes  habeo  quindecim  aetates,  sta  sententiae,  non 
meae,  non  tuae,  sed  harum  omnium. — "  Stabo  sen 
tentiae  verbi  Dei:  Spiritus  ubi  vult,  spirat."  Ec- 
cum,  quos  gyros,  quas  rotas  fabricat.  Hie  nugator, 
tot  verborum  atque  sophismatum  architectus,  nescio 
cui  formidolosus  esse  queat,  molestus  erit  fortasse. 
Molestiam  vestra  prudentia  sublevabit,  formidinem 
res  eripuit. 

DECIMA  RATIO 
OMNE  GENVS  TESTIVM 

"  Haec  erit  vobis  directa  via,  ita  ut  stulti  non 
errent  per  earn."1  Quis  enim,  quamvis  hebes  in 
plebecula,  dummodo  salutis  cupidus  parumper  at- 
tenderit,  semitam  Ecclesiae  tarn  egregie  compla- 
natam,  non  videat,  non  teneat;  vepres,  et  cautes, 

1  Isai.  xxxv.   8. 


76  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

et  avia  detestatus?  Erunt  haec  etiam  rudibus  ex- 
plorata,  sicut  Isaias  vaticinatus  est;  vobis  igitur, 
si  voletis,  exploratissima. 

COELITES. — Theatrum  universitatis  rerum  pona- 
mus  ob  oculos;  quidquid  est  uspiam  peragremus; 
omnia  nobis  argumenta  suppeditant.  Eamus  in 
coelum:  "  Rosas1  et  lilia  contemplemur,"  purpura- 
tos  nempe  martyrio,  candidates  innocentia.  Ro- 
manos,  inquam,  Pontifices2  tres  et  triginta  con- 
tinenter  occisos ;  Pastores  terris  omnibus,  qui  suum 
pro  Christi  nomine  sanguinem  oppignerarunt ;  gre- 
ges  fidelium,  qui  Pastorum  vestigiis  institere;  Di- 
vos  omnes  coelites,  qui  turbae  hominum  puritate 
et  sanctimonia  praeluxere.  Nostros  hie  vixisse, 
nostros  hinc  emigrasse  reperias.  Noster  fuit,  ut 
paucula  delibemus,  ille  martyrii  sitientissimus  Ig 
natius3  "  qui  in  rebus  Ecclesiae  neminem,  ne  regem4 
quidem,  aequavit  Episcopo:  qui  traditiones6  quas- 
dam  Apostolicas,  quarum  testis  ipse  fuerat,  ne  dila- 
berentur,  scripto  mandavit."  Noster  anachoreta 
Telesphorus, 6  "  qui  ieiunium  quadragesimale,  san- 
citum  ab  Apostolis,  observari  severius  iussit."  Nos 
ter  Irenaeus,7  "  qui  a  successione  Cathedraque  Ro- 
mana  fidem  Apostolicam  declaravit."  Noster 
etiam  Victor  Pontifex,  "  qui8  Asiam  edicto  coer- 
cuit  universam:  "  quod  quum  aliquibus,  atque  etiam 

1  Aug.  serm.   37  de  Sanct. 

2  Dam.    in  vit.   Pont.   Rom. 

3  Hier.  cat.  Script. 

4  Ign.  epist.  ad  Smyrn. 

5  Euseb.  1.  3,  c.  30. 

6  Dam.  in  vita  Telesph.  to.  i  con.  c.  stat.  d.  5. 

7  Lib.   3,  c.   3. 

8  Euseb.   5  hist.   24. 


RATIONES    DECEM  77 

huic  Irenaeo,  viro  sacratissimo,  videretur  asperius, 
nemo  tamen  attenuavit,  ut  exoticam  potestatem. 
Noster  Polycarpus, *  qui  super  quaestione  Paschatis 
Romam  adiit,  cuius  ambustas  reliquias  Smyrna  col- 
legit,  anniversario  die  rituque  legitimo  suum  Epis- 
copum  venerata.  Nostri  Cornelius  et  Cyprianus,2 
aureum  par  Martyrum,  ambo  magni  praesules ;  sed 
maior  ille,  qui  Romanus  Africanum  errorem  res- 
ciderat;  hie  nobilitatus  observantia,  qua  maiorem 
est  prosequutus,  amicissimum  sui.  Noster  Sixtus,1 
"  cui  ad  aram  solemnibus  sacris  operanti  minis- 
trarunt  e  clero  septemviri."  Noster  Laurentius, 
huius  Archidiaconus, 4  quern  adversarii  de  suis  fastis 
eiiciunt,  quem  ante  mille  ducentos  annos  vir  con- 
sularis  Prudentius5  sic  ornavit: 

Quae  sit  potestas  credita 

Et  muneris  quantum  datum, 

Probant  Quiritum  gaudia, 

Quibus  rogatus  annuis. 
Hos  inter,  o  Christi  decus, 

Audi  et  poetam  rusticum, 

Cordis  fatentem  crimina, 

Et  facta  prodentem  sua. 
Audi  benignus  supplicem 

Christi  reum,  Prudentium. 

Nostrae  virgines  illae6  perbeatae,  Caecilia,  Agatha, 
Anastasia,  Barbara,  Agnes,  Lucia,  Dorothea,  Cath- 
arina ;  quae  decretam  pudicitiam  adversus  et  homi- 

1  Euseb.  4  hist.   13  et  14. 
2Euseb.   7  hist.   2  interp.  Ruff. 
8  Prud.  in  hym.  de  S.  Laur. 

*Vid.  Aug.  Ser.   i  de  S.  Laur.;   Ambr.  1.   i  offi,  c.  41; 
Leo  serm.  in  die  S.  Laur. 

5  Prud.  in  hym.  de  S.  Laur. 

6  Metaph. ;   Ambr.  et  alii. 


78  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

num  et  daemonum  tyrannidem  firmaverunt.  Nos- 
tra  Helena,  quam  dominicae  Crucis  inventio  cele- 
bravit.  Nostra  Monica,  quae  moriens1  orari  et 
sacrificari  pro  se  mortua  ad  altare  Christi,  religio- 
sissime  flagitavit.  Nostra  Paula,2  quae  ex  urbano 
palatio  et  opimis  praediis  in  speluncam  Bethleemi- 
ticam  tantis  itineribus  peregrina  cucurrit,  ut  ad 
Christi  vagientis  cunabula  delitesceret.  Nostri 
Paulus,  Hilarion,  Antonius,  seniculi  solitarii.  Nos- 
ter  Satyrus,3  Ambrosii  germanus  f rater,  qui  tre- 
mendam  illam  hostiam  circum  se  gestans  in  orario, 
naufragus  insiliit  in  Oceanum,  et  fide  plenissimus 
enatavit.  Nostri  Nicolaus  et  Martinus,  episcopi, 
exerciti  vigiliis,  paludati  ciliciis,  ieiunio  pasti. 
Noster  Benedictus,  tot  monachorum  pater.  Chilia- 
das  istas  decennio  non  exsequerer. 

Sed  nee  illos  repeto,  quos  in  Ecclesiae  Doctori- 
bus  ante  posueram.  Memor  sum  brevitatis  meae. 
Petat  ista,  qui  volet,  non  solum  ex  abundanti  veter- 
um  historia,  sed  multo  etiam  magis  ex  gravissimis 
auctoribus,  qui  paene  singuli  Divos  singulos  me 
moriae4  reliquerunt.  Renuntiet  mini,  de  chris- 
tianis  illis  antiquissimis  et  beatissimis  quid  autu- 
met?  Vtrius  doctrinae  fuerint,  catholicae,  an  lu- 
theranae?  Testor  Dei  solium  et  illud  tribunal,  ad 
quod  stabo  rationem  rationum  harum  et  dicti  et  facti 
redditurus,  aut  nullum  coelum  esse,  aut  nostrorum 
esse;  illud  exsecramur,  hoc  ergo  defigimus. 


1  Aug.  1.  6  confess,  c.  7  ad   13. 

2  Hier.  in  epit.  Paul. 

3  Ambr.  in  orat.  fun.  de  Satyro. 

*  Vide  sex  tomos  Surii  de  vitis  Sanct. 


RATIONES    DECEM  79 

DAMNATI. — Nunc  e  contrario,  si  libet,  inspicia- 
mus  in  Tartara.  Cremantur  incendio  sempiterno. 
Qui?  ludaei.  Quam  Ecclesiam  adversati?  Nos- 
tram. — Qui?  Ethnici.  Quam  Ecclesiam  crudelis- 
sime  persequuti?  Nostram. — Qui?  Turcae.  Quae 
templa  demoliti?  Nostra. — Qui?  Haeretici. 
Cuius  Ecclesiae  perduelles?  Nostrae. — Quae  enim 
Ecclesia  praeter  nostram  omnibus  inferorum  portis1 
se  opposuit? 

IVDAEI. — Quum,  pulsis  Hebraeis,  Christiani2 
succrescerent  Hierosolymis,  Deum  immortalem ! 
qui  concursus  hominum  ad  loca  sacra  fuit,3  quae 
urbis  religio,  quae  sepulcri,  quae  praesepii,  quae 
crucis,  quae  monumentorum  omnium,  quibus  velut 
exuviis  mariti,  Ecclesia  sponsa  delectatur?  Hinc 
manavit  in  nos  ludaeorum  odium  ferum  et  im- 
placabile.  Queruntur  etiam  mine,  maiores  nostros 
maioribus  suis  exitio  fuisse.  A  Simone  Mago  et 
lutheranis  nullum  ictum  acceperunt. 

ETHNICI. — In  Ethnicis  violentissimi  fuere,  qui 
toto  Imperio,  tre!centis  annis,  per  intervalla  tem- 
porum,  aerumnosissima  Christianis  supplicia  ma- 
chinati  sunt.  Quibus?  Patribus  et  filiis  nostrae 
fidei.  Cognoscite  vocem  tyranni,  qui  Divum  Laur- 
entium  torruit  in  craticula:4 

Huric  esse  vestris  Orgiis 

Moremque  et  artem,  proditum  est; 
Hanc  disciplinam  foederis, 
Libent  ut  auro  antistites. 

1  Matth.  xv.   1 8. 
8  Euseb.  4  hist.   5. 

£Hieron,  in  epit.  Paul,  et  passim  in  epist. 
4  Prudent,  in  hym.  de  S.  Laur. 


80  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

Argenteis  scyphis  ferunt 
Fumare  sacrum  sanguinem, 
Auroque  nocturnis  sacris 
Adstare  fixos  cereos. 

Tune  cura  summa  est  fratribus, 
(Vt  sermo  testatur  loquax), 
Offerre,  fundis  venditis, 
Sestertiorum  millia. 

Addicta  avorum  praedia 
Foedis  sub  auctionibus 
Successor  exhaeres  gemit, 
Sanctis  egens  parentibus. 

Haec  occulantur  abditis 
Ecclesiarum  in  angulis; 
Et  summa  pietas  creditur 
Nudare  dulces  liberos. 

Deprome  thesauros,  mails 
Suadendo  quos  praestigiis 
Exaggerates  obtines, 
Nigrantes  quos  claudis  specu. 

Hoc  poscit  usus  publicus; 
Hoc  fiscus,  hoc  aerarium, 
Vt  dedita  stipendiis 
Ducem  iuvet  pecunia. 

Sic  dogma  vestrum  est,  audio; 
"  Suum  quibusque  reddito." 
En  Caesar  agnoscit  suum 
Numisma,   nummis  inditum. 

Quod  Caesaris  scis,  Caesari 
Da:   nempe  iustum  postulo, 
Ni  fallor;  baud  ullam  tuus 
Signat  Deus  pecuniam. 

Nee  quum  veniret,  aureos 
Secum  Philippos  detulit; 
Praecepta  sed  verbis  dedit 
Inanis  a  marsupio. 

Implete  dictorum  fidem, 

Quae  vos  per  orbem  venditis, 
Nummos  libenter  reddite; 
Estote  verbis  divites. 


RATIONES    DECEM  81 

Quis  videtur?  In  quos  furit?  Cuius  Ecclesiae  sa 
cra,  lychnos,  ritus,  ornamenta  convellit?  Cui  pa- 
tellas  aureas,  et  argenteos  calices,  et  sumptuosa 
donaria,  et  opulentam  gazam  invidet?  Profecto 
lutherizat.  Quod  enim  aliud  velum  suo  latrocinio 
nostri  Nemrodes1  obtenderunt,  quum  depecularen- 
tur  ecclesias,  et  Christ!  patrimonium  dissiparent? 
Contra  vero  magnus  ille  Constantinus  Christomas- 
tigon  terror,  quam  Ecclesiam  tranquillavit?  1 11am, 
cui  Pontifex  Sylvester  praefuit,2  quern  in  Soracte 
latitantem  accersiit,  ut  eius  opera  nostro  baptismate 
tingeretur. — Quibus  auspiciis  victor?  Signo  cru- 
cis.3 — Qua  matre  gloriosus?  Helena. — Quibus  se 
patribus  adiunxit?  Nicaenis.— Cuiusmodi?  Vt 
Sylvestro,  ut  Marco,  ut  lulio,  ut  Athanasio,  ut  Ni- 
colao. — Cuius  se  precibus4  commendavit?  Antonii. 
— Quam  sellam  postulavit5  in  Synodo?  Vltimam. 
— O  quanto  regalior  hac  sede,  quam  qui  regis  titu- 
lum,  non  debitum,  ambierunt !  Singula  narrare 
longum  est.  Sed  ex  his  duobus  altero  nobis  infes- 
tissimo,  altero  nobis  amicissimo,  licebit  singula 
coniicere,  quae  sunt  horum  simillima.  Etenim,  ut 
nostrorum  ilia  fuit  Epistasis  turbulenta,  sic  nos- 
trorum  haec  evasit  divina  Catastrophe. 

TVRCAE. — Turcica  videamus.  Mahometes  et 
Sergius  monachus  apostata  in  profundo  barathro 
iacent  ululantes,  et  suis  et  posterorum  sceleribus 

1  Gen.  x.    9. 

2  Dam.  in  Sylv.;  Niceph.  1.  7,  c.  33;  Zonaras,  Cedremus. 

3  Euseb.   1.    2   de  vit.   Const,   c.    7,    8,    9;    Sozom.   1.    I, 
c.  8,  9. 

4  Athan.  in  vita  S.  Ant. 

5  Theod.  1.    i,  hist.  cap.  7, 

G 


82  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

onusti.  Haec  portentosa  et  efferata  bellua,  Sar- 
raceni,  Turcae,  nisi  a  nostris  ordinibus  militiae 
sacrae,1  nisi  a  nostris  principibus  et  populis  ac- 
cisa  fuisset  ac  repressa,  per  Lutherum  quidem,  (cui 
gratias  hoc  nomine  Solymanus  Turcus  litteris  egisse 
dicitur),  et  per  lutheranos  regulos  (quibus  Tur- 
corum  progressio  laetabilis  existimatur) ;  haec,  in- 
quam,  Erinnys  f  uriosa  et  exitiosa  mortalibus,  totam 
iam  depopularetur  et  vastaret  Europam ;  neque  in- 
diligentius  altaria  et  signa  crucis,  quam  ipse  Cal- 
vinus  everteret.  Ergo  nostri  hostes  illi  sunt  proprii, 
utpote  nostrorum  industria  a  christianorum  iugulis 
repulsi. 

HAERETICI. — Despectemus  in  haereticos,  faeces, 
et  folles,  et  alimenta  gehennae.  Primus  occurrit 
Simon  Magus.  Quid  ille?  "  Eripiebat  homini  li- 
beram2  voluntatem;  solam  fidem3  percrepabat." 
Mox  Novatianus:  Quis?  Antipapa  Cornelio,4  Pon- 
tifici  Romano,  "  hostis  sacramentorum  poenitentiae 
et  chrismatis."5  Deinde  Manes  Persa:  hie  doce- 
bat  "  baptismum  salutem6  non  conferre."  Post 
Aerius  Arianus  "  preces  damnabat  pro  mortuis,7 
confundebat  episcopis  sacerdotes."  Hinc  Aerius 
"  solam8  et  ipse  fidem  personabat,"  cognominatus 
atheos9  non  minus  quam  Lucianus.  Sequitur  Vi- 

!Vid.  Volate,  lovium  Aemilium  1.   8,  Blond.  1.   9  de  2. 

2  Clem.  1.    i,  recog. 

3  Iren.  1.    I,  c.   2. 

*Cypr.  ep.  ad  lubatam  et  I.  4  ep.  2. 

5Theod.  de  fab.  haeret. 

"Aug.  haer.  46,   53,  54. 

7Epiph.  haer.   75. 

8  Aug.  haer.   54. 

9Socr.  1.  2,  c.  28. 


RATIONES    DECEM  83 

gilantius/  qui  "  Divos  orari  non  ferebat:"  ac 
lovinianus,  qui  "  virginitatem  et  nuptias  aequipara- 
bat."  Denique  colluvies  universa  Macedonius, 
Pelagius,  Nestorius,  Entyches,  Monothelitae,  Ico- 
nomachi,  caeteri,  quibus  Lutherum  et  Calvinum 
posteritas  aggregabit.  Quid  isti?  Omnes  mali 
corvi,  eodem  ovo  geniti,  ab  Ecclesiae  nostrae 
Praesulibus  desciverunt,  ab  illis  evicti  et  exinaniti 
sunt. 

Deseramus  avernum,  reddamur  terris.  Quocum- 
que  me  oculis  et  cogitatione  convertero,  sive  Pa- 
triarchas  intueor  et  sedes  Apostolicas,  sive  Antis- 
tites  caeterarum  gentium,  sive  laudatos  principes, 
reges,  caesares,  sive  christianorum  cuiusque  nationis 
initia,  sive  ullum  iudicium  vetustatis,  aut  lumen 
rationis,  aut  honestatis  decus;  nostrae  fidei  ser- 
viunt  et  suffragantur  omnia. 

SEDES  APOSTOLICA. — Testis  Romana  successio, 
"  In  qua  semper  Ecclesia,  (ut  cum  Augustino  ep. 
162  loquar),  Apostolicae  Cathedrae  viguit  prin- 
cipatus."  Testes  illae  reliquae  sedes  apostolicae, 
in  quas  hoc  nomen  insignite  convenit,  quod  ab  ipsis 
Apostolis  horumve  auditoribus  exaedificatae2  fue- 
rint. 

DlSIVNCTTISSIMAE  TERRAE.—  Testes  ubivis  gen 
tium  pastores,  loco  dissiti,  religione  nostra  con- 
cordes,  Ignatius  et  Chrysostomus,  Antiochiae; 
Petrus,  Alexander,  Athanasius,  Theophilus,  Alexan- 
driae;  Macharius  et  Cyrillus,  Hierosolymis ;  Pro- 
clus,  Constantinopoli ;  Gregorius  et  Basilius,  in 

1  Hier.  in  lovin.  et  Vigilant.;   Aug.  haer.  82. 

2  Vid.  Tert.  de  praescr.;  Aug.  1.  2  de  doctr.  christ.  c.  8. 


84  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

Cappadocia;  Thaumaturgus,  in  Ponto;  Smyrnae, 
Polycarpus;  lustinus,  Athenis;  Dionysius,  Corin- 
thi;  Gregorius,  Nissae;  Methodius,  Tyri;  Ephre- 
mus,  in  Cyria;  Cyprianus,  Optatus,  Augustinus,  in 
Africa;  Epiphanius,  in  Cypro;  Andreas,  Cretae ; 
Ambrosius,  Paulinus,  Gaudentius,  Prosper,  Faus- 
tus,  Vigiliusin  Italia;  Irenaeus,  Martinus,  Hilarius, 
Eucherius,  Gregorius,  Salvianus,  in  Gallia ;  Vincen- 
tius,  Orosius,  Ildefonsus,  Leander,  Isidorus,  in  His- 
pania;  in  Britannia,  Fugatius,  Damianus,  Justus, 
Mellitus,  Beda.  Denique,  ne  ambitiosus  videar  in 
nominibus,  quaecumque  vel  opera,  vel  fragmenta 
supersunt  eorum,  qui  disiunctissimis  terris  Evan- 
gelium  severunt,  omnia  nobis  unam  fidem  exhibent, 
quam  hodie  catholici  profitemur.  Christe,  quid 
causae  tibi  afferam,  quo  minus  me  de  tuis  exter- 
mines,  si  tot  luminibus  Ecclesiae  tenebricosos  ho- 
mulos,  paucos,  indoctos,  dissectos,  improbos,  ante- 
tulero? 

PRINCIPES. — Testes  item  principes,  reges,  cae- 
sares,  horumque  respublicae,  quorum  et  ipsorum 
pietas,  et  ditionum  populi,  et  pacis  bellique  dis- 
ciplina  se  penitus  in  hac  nostra  doctrina  catholica 
fundaverunt.  Hie  ergo  quos  ab  oriente  Theodo- 
sios,  quos  ab  occidente  Carolos,  quos  Eduardos  ex 
Anglia,  Ludovicos  e  Gallia,  Hermenegildos  ex 
Hispania,  Henricos  a  Saxonia,  Wenceslaos  e  Bohe 
mia,  Leopoldos  ex  Austria,  Stephanos  ex  Hungaria, 
losaphatos  ex  India,  quos  orbe  toto  dynastas  atque 
toparchas  possim  arcessere ;  qui  exemplo,  qui  armis 
qui  legibus,  qui  sollicitudine,  qui  sumptu,  nostram 
Ecclesiam  nutrierunt?  Sic  enim  praecinuit  Isaias 


RATIONES    DECEM  85 

(xlix.  23) :  "  Erunt  reges  nutricii  tui,  et  reginae 
nutrices  tuae."  Audi,  Elisabetha,  Regina  potentis- 
sima,  tibi  canit,  te  tuas  partes  edocet.  Narro  tibi: 
Calvinum  et  hos  principes  unum  coelum  capere  non 
potest.  His  ergo  te  principibus  adiunge,  dignam 
maioribus,  dignam  ingenio,  dignam  litteris,  dignam 
laudibus,  dignam  fortuna  tua.  Solum  hoc  de  te 
molior  ego  et  moliar,  quidquid  me  fiet,  cui,  tam- 
quam  hosti  capitis  tui,  toties  iam  isti  patibulum 
ominantur.  Salve  bona  crux.  Veniet,  Elisabetha, 
dies  ille,  ille  dies,  qui  tibi  liquido  commonstrabit, 
utri  te  dilexerint,  Societas  lesu,  an  Lutheri  pro 
genies.  Pergo. 

NATIONES  AD  CHRISTAM  TRADVCTAE. — Testes 
iam  omne  sorae  plagaeque  mundi,  quibus  evange- 
lica  tuba  post  Christum  natum  insonuit.  Parumne 
hoc  fuit,  idolis  ora  claudere,  Dei  regnum  gentibus 
importare?  Christum  Lutherus,  catholici  Christum 
loquimur.  "  Num  divisus  est  Christus?  "*  Minime. 
Aut  nos,  aut  ille,  falsum  Christum  loquimur.  Quid 
ergo?  Dicam.  Christus  ille  sit,  et  illorum  sit,  quo 
Dagon2  invecto  cervices  fregerit.  Noster  Christus 
opera  nostrorum  uti  voluit,  quum  loves,  Mercuries, 
Dianas,  Phaebadas,  et  illam  noctem  saeculorum 
atram,  Erebumque  tristem,  e  tot  populorum  cord- 
ibus  relegaret.  Non  est  otium  longinqua  perqui- 
rere ;  finitima  tantum  atque  domestica  speculemur. 
Hiberni  ex  Patritio,  Scoti  ex  Palladio,  Angli  ex 
Augustino,  Romae  sacratis,  Roma  missis,  Romam 
venerantibus,  fidem  aut  nullam,  aut  certe  nostram, 

1  i   Cor.   i.    13. 

2  l  Reg.  v.  4. 


86  EDMUNDI    CAMPIANI 

id  est,  catholicam  insuxerunt.  Res  aperta.  Curro. 
CVMVLVS  TESTIVM. — Testes  academiae,  testes 
legum  tabulae,  testes  vernaculi  mores  hominum, 
testes  selectio  caesarum  et  inauguratio,  testes  regum 
ritus  et  inunctio,  testes  equitum  ordines,  ipsaeque 
chlamydes,  testes  fenestrae,  testes  nummi,  testes 
urbanae  portae  domusque  civicae,  testes  avorum 
fructus  et  vita,  testes  res  omnes  et  reculae,  nullam 
in  orbe  religionem,  nisi  nostram,  imis  umquam  rad- 
icibus  insedisse. 

Quae  mihi  quum  suppeterent,  et  certe  sic  efficerent 
meditantem,  ut  his  omnibus  nuntium  remittere  chri- 
stianis,  et  consociari  cum  perditissimis  quibusque, 
videretur  insolentis  insaniae;  non  diffiteor,  anima- 
tus  sum  et  incensus  ad  conflictum,  in  quo  nisi  Divi 
de  coelo  deturbentur,  et  superbus  Lucifer  coelum 
recuperet,  cadere  numquam  potero.  Quo  mihi  sit 
aequior  Charcus,  qui  me  tarn  immaniter  concerpit, 
si  hanc  animulam  peccatricem,  quam  tanti  Christus 
emit,  viae  tutae,  viae  certae,  viae  regiae  malui  cre 
dere,  quam  Calvinis  scopulis  dumetisve  suspendere. 

CONCLVSIO 

Habetis  a  me,  florentes  Academici,  hoc  munus- 
culum,  contextum  operis  in  itinere  subcisivis.  Ani 
mus  fuit  et  purgare  me  vobis  de  arrogantia,  et 
satisfacere  de  fiducia,  et  interim  dum  ab  adver- 
sariis  una  mecum  in  scholas  invitemini,  quaedam 
apponere  degustanda.  Si  aequam,  si  tutum,  si 
honestum  ducitis,  haberi  Lutherum,  aut  Calvinum, 
canonem  Scripturae,  mentem  sancti  Spiritus,  nor- 
mam  Ecclesiae,  Conciliorum  Patrumque  paedago- 


RATIONES    DECEM  87 

gum,  omnium  denique  testium  et  saeculorum  Deum, 
nihil  est  quod  sperem,  vobis  lectoribus  vel  auditor- 
ibus.  Sin  estis  ii,  quos  apud  animum  formavi 
meum,  philosophi  occulati,  amatores  veri,  simpli- 
citatis,  modestiae;  hostes  temeritatis,  nugarum, 
sophismatum;  facile  diem  in  aprico  videbitis,  qui 
dieculam  angusta  rima  dispicitis.  Dicam  libere, 
quod  meus  in  vos  amor,  et  vestrum  periculum  et 
rei  magnitude  postulat.  Non  hoc  nescit  diabolus, 
vos  istam  lucem,  si  quando  coeperitis  oculos  at- 
tolere,  conspecturos.  Cuius  enim  stuporis  fuerit, 
antiquitati  christianae  Hammeros  et  Charcos  ante- 
ponere?  Sed  sunt  quaedam  illecebrae  lutheranae, 
quibus  suum  ille  regnum  amplificat,  quibus  ille 
tendiculis  hamatus  multos  iani  vestri  ordinis 
inescavit.  Quaenam?  Aurum,  gloria,  deliciae, 
veneres.  Contemnite.  Quid  enim  aliud  ista  sunt, 
nisi  terrarum  ilia,  canorus  aer,  propina  vermium, 
bella  sterquilinia?  Spernite.  Christus  dives  est, 
qui  vos  alet;  Rex  est,  qui  ornabit;  lautus  est,  qui 
satiabit;  speciosus  est,  qui  felicitatum  omnium 
cumulos  largietur.  Huic  vos  adscribite  militant!, 
ut  cum  eo  triumphos,  vere  doctissimi  vereque  clari- 
ssimi,  reportetis.  Valete.  Cosmopoli  1581. 


88  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 


TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE. 

This  is  no  dry  controversial  divinity,  but  a  sort 
of  illuminated  copy  of  theses,  the  call  of  a  knight's 
trumpet  challenging  his  antagonist  to  come  forth. 
The  Ten  Reasons  represent  the  ten  theses,  which 
Edmund  Campion  would  fain  have  maintained  in 
the  Divinity  School  at  Oxford  against  all  comers, 
sharing,  as  he  did  to  the  full,  the  passion  which  his 
age  felt  and  seems  entirely  to  have  lost,  for 
such  intellectual  tournaments,  as  the  natural 
means  to  bring  out  the  truth  and  compose  religious 
differences.  The  reader,  then,  must  not  be  sur 
prised  to  find  in  this  little  work  quite  as  much  of 
rhetoric  as  of  logic ;  if  he  is  unfriendly,  he  may  say 
considerably  more.  Nor,  if  he  knows  anything  of 
the  controversial  methods  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
will  he  be  surprised  at  the  vehemence  of  the  lan 
guage.  Compared  with  his  opponents,  Luther  for 
example,  Edmund  Campion  is  mere  milk  and 
honey.  His  book  made  a  great  stir:  it  is  what  a 
successful  book  must  be,  instinct  with  the  spirit 
of  the  age  in  which  and  for  which  it  was  written. 

The  Protestant  answer  to  the  Ten  Reasons  was 
not  given  in  the  Divinity  School  at  Oxford.  It  was 
the  rack  in  the  Tower,  and  the  gibbet  at  Tyburn; 
and  that  answer  was  returned  ere  the  year  was  out. 

J.R. 

Popfs  Hall,  Oxford, 
May  1910. 


TEN    REASONS  89 


PREFACE. 

Edmund  Campion,  to  the  Learned  Members  of  the 
Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  Greeting. 

Last  year,  Gentlemen,  when  in  accordance  with 
my  calling  in  life  I  returned  under  orders  to  this 
Island,  I  found  on  the  shore  of  England  not  a  little 
wilder  waves  than  those  I  had  recently  left  behind 
me  in  the  British  Seas.  As  thereupon  I  made  my 
way  into  the  interior  of  England,  I  had  no  more 
familiar  sight  than  that  of  unusual  executions,  no 
greater  certainty  than  the  uncertainty  of  threat 
ening  dangers.  I  gathered  my  wits  together  as 
best  I  could,  remembering  the  cause  which  I  was 
serving  and  the  times  in  which  I  lived.  And  lest 
I  might  perhaps  be  arrested  before  I  had  got  a 
hearing  from  any  one,  I  at  once  put  my  purpose 
in  writing,  stating  who  I  was,  what  was  my  errand, 
what  war  I  thought  of  declaring  and  upon  whom. 
I  kept  the  original  document  on  my  person,  that 
it  might  be  taken  with  me,  if  I  were  taken.  I 
deposited  a  copy  with  a  friend,  and  this  copy, 
without  my  knowledge,  was  shown  to  many.  Ad 
versaries  took  very  ill  the  publication  of  the  paper. 
What  they  particularly  disliked  and  blamed  was 
my  having  offered  to  hold  the  field  alone  against 
all  comers  in  this  matter  of  religion,  though  to  be 
sure  I  should  not  have  been  alone  had  I  disputed 
under  a  public  safe  conduct.  Hanmer  and  Chartres 
have  replied  to  my  demands.  What  is  the  tenour 
of  their  reply?  All  off  the  point.  The  only  honest 


90  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

answer  for  them  to  give  is  one  they  will  never  give : 
"  We  embrace  the  conditions,  the  Queen  pledges 
her  word,  come  at  once."  Meanwhile  they  fill  the 
air  with  their  cries :  "  Your  conspiracy !  your  sedi 
tious  proceedings  !  your  arrogance !  traitor !  aye 
marry,  traitor!  '  The  whole  thing  is  absurd. 
These  men  are  not  fools:  why  are  they  wasting 
their  pains  and  damaging  their  own  reputation? 
Nevertheless,  in  reply  to  these  two  gentlemen  (one 
of  whom  has  chosen  my  paper  to  run  at  for  his 
amusement,  the  other  more  maliciously  has  con 
fused  the  whole  issue)  there  has  recently  been  pre 
sented  a  very  clear  memorial  setting  forth  all  that 
need  be  said  about  our  Society  and  their  calumnies 
and  the  part  that  we  are  taking.  The  only  course 
left  open  to  me  (since  as  I  see,  it  is  tortures,  not 
academic  disputations,  that  the  high-priests  are 
making  ready)  was  to  make  good  to  you  the  account 
of  my  conduct;  to  show  you  the  chief  heads  and 
point  my  finger  to  the  sources  from  whence  I  derive 
this  confidence;  to  exhort  you  also,  as  it  is  your 
concern  above  others,  to  give  to  this  business  that 
attention  which  Christ,  the  Church,  the  Common 
Weal,  and  your  own  salvation  demand  of  you.  If 
it  were  confidence  in  my  own  talents,  erudition,  art, 
reading,  memory,  that  led  me  to  challenge  all  the 
skill  that  could  be  brought  against  me,  then  were 
I  the  vainest  and  proudest  of  mortals,  not  having 
considered  either  myself  or  my  opponents.  But  if, 
with  my  cause  before  my  eyes,  I  thought  myself 
competent  to  show  that  the  sun  here  shines  at  noon 
day,  you  ought  to  allow  in  me  that  heat  which  the 


TEN    REASONS  91 

honour  of  Jesus  Christ,  my  King,  and  the  uncon- 
quered  force    of    truth  have  put  upon  me.)    You 
know  how  in  Marcus  Tullius's  speech  for  Fublius 
Quintius,  when  Roscius  promised  that  he  should 
win  the  case  if  he  could  make  out  by  arguments 
that  a  journey  of  700  miles  had  not  been  accom 
plished  in  two  days,  Cicero  not  only  had  no  fear  of 
all  the  force  of  the  pleading  of  the  opposing  coun 
sel,  Hortensius,  but  could  not  have  been  afraid  even 
of  greater  orators  than  Hortensius,  men  of  the  stamp 
of  Cotta  and  Antonius  and  Crassus,  whose  reputa 
tion  for  speaking  he  set  higher  than  that  of  all  other 
men :  for  truth  does  sometimes  stand  out  in  so  clear 
a  light  that  no  artifice  of  word  or  deed  can  hide  it. 
Now  the  case  on  our  side  is  clearer  even  than  that 
position  of  Roscius.    /I  have  only  to  evince  this, 
that  there  is  a  Heaven,  that  there  is  a  God,  that 
there  is  a  Faith,  that  there  is  a  Christ,  and  I  have 
gained  my  cause.     Standing  on  such  ground  should 
I  not  pluck  up  heart?     I  may  be  killed,  beaten  I   \ 
cannot  be.    I  take  my  stand  on  those  Doctors,  whom 
that  Spirit  has  instructed  who  is  neither  deceived 
nor  overcome     I  beg  of  you,  consent  to  be  saved. 
Of  those  from  whom  I   obtain  this  consent  I  expect 
without  the  least  doubt  that  all  the  rest  will  follow. 
Only  give  yourselves  up  to  take  interest  in  this  in 
quiry,  entreat  Christ,  add  efforts  of  your  own,  and 
certainly  you  will  perceive  how  the  case  lies,  how 
our  adversaries  are  in  despair,  and  ourselves  so 
solidly  founded  that  we  cannot  but  desire  this  con 
flict  with  serene  and  high  courage.      I  am  brief 
here,  because  I  address  you  in  the  rest  of  my  dis 
course.     Farewell. 


92  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

FIRST  REASON 
HOLY  WRIT 

Of  the  many  signs  that  tell  of  the  adversaries' 
mistrust  of  their  own  cause,  none  declares  it  so 
loudly  as  the  shameful  outrage  they  put  upon  the 
majesty  of  the  Holy  Bible.  After  they  have  dis 
missed  with  scorn  the  utterances  and  suffrages  of 
the  rest  of  the  witnesses,  they  are  nevertheless 
brought  to  such  straits  that  they  cannot  hold  their 
own  otherwise  than  by  laying  violent  hands  on  the 
divine  volumes  themselves,  thereby  showing  beyond 
all  question  that  they  are  brought  to  their  last 
stand,  and  are  having  recourse  to  the  hardest  and 
most  extreme  of  expedients  to  retrieve  their  des 
perate  and  ruined  fortunes.  What  induced  the 
Manichees  to  tear  out  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  and 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles?  Despair.  For  these 
volumes  were  a  torment  to  men  who  denied  Christ's 
birth  of  a  Virgin,  and  who  pretended  that  the 
Spirit  then  first  descended  upon  Christians  when 
their  peculiar  Paraclete,  a  good-for-nothing  Per 
sian,  made  his  appearance.  What  induced  the 
Ebionites  to  reject  all  St.  Paul's  Epistles?  Des 
pair.  For  while  those  Letters  kept  their  credit, 
the  custom  of  circumcision,  which  these  men  had 
reintroduced,  was  set  aside  as  an  anachronism. 
What  induced  that  crime-laden  apostate  Luther  to 
call  the  Epistle  of  James  contentious,  turgid,  arid, 
a  thing  of  straw,  and  unworthy  of  the  Apostolic 
spirit?  Despair.  For  by  this  writing  the  wretched 


TEN    REASONS  93 

man's  argument  of  righteousness  consisting  in 
faith  alone  was  stabbed  through  and  rent  assunder. 
What  induced  Luther's  whelps  to  expunge  off-hand 
from  the  genuine  canon  of  Scripture,  Tobias, 
Ecclesiasticus,  Maccabees,  and,  for  hatred  of 
these,  several  other  books  involved  in  the  same 
false  charge?  Despair.  For  by  these  Oracles  they 
are  most  manifestly  confuted  whenever  they  argue 
about  the  patronage  of  Angels,  about  free  will, 
about  the  faithful  departed,  about  the  intercession 
of  Saints.  Is  it  possible?  So  much  perversity, 
so  much  audacity?  After  trampling  underfoot 
Church,  Councils,  Episcopal  Sees,  Fathers,  Mar 
tyrs,  Potentates,  Peoples,  Laws,  Universities,  His 
tories,  all  vestiges  of  Antiquity  and  Sanctity,  and 
declaring  that  they  would  settle  their  disputes  by 
the  written  word  of  God  alone,  to  think  that  they 
should  have  emasculated  that  same  Word,  which 
alone  was  left,  by  cutting  out  of  the  whole  body  so 
many  excellent  and  goodly  parts !  Seven  whole 
books,  to  ignore  lesser  diminutions,  have  the  Cal- 
vinists  cut  out  of  the  Old  Testament.  The 
Lutherans  take  away  the  Epistle  of  James 
besides,  and,  in  their  dislike  of  that,  five  other 
Epistles,  about  which  there  had  been  controversy 
of  old  in  certain  places  and  times.  To  the  number 
of  these  the  latest  authorities  at  Geneva  add  the 
book  of  Esther  and  about  three  chapters  of  Daniel, 
which  their  fellow-disciples,  the  Anabaptists,  had 
some  time  before  condemned  and  derided.  How 
much  greater  was  the  modesty  of  Augustine  (De 
doct.  Christ,  lib.  2,  c.  8.),  who,  in  making  his  cata- 


94  EDMUND   CAMPION'S 

logue  of  the  Sacred  Books,  did  not  take  for  his  rule 
the  Hebrew  Alphabet,  like  the  Jews,  nor  private 
judgment,  like  the  Sectaries,  but  that  Spirit  where 
with    Christ    animates    the    whole    Church.      The 
Church,    the    guardian    of    this    treasure,    not   its 
mistress  (as  heretics  falsely  make  out),  vindicated 
publicly  in  former  times  by  very  ancient  Councils 
this  entire  treasure,  which  the  Council  of  Trent 
has  taken  up  and  embraced.     Augustine  also  in  a 
special  discussion  on  one  small  portion  of  Scripture 
cannot  bring  himself  to  think  that  any  man's  rash 
murmuring  should  be  permitted  to  thrust  out  of 
the  Canon  the  book  of  Wisdom,  which  even  in  his 
time  had  obtained  a  sure  place  as  a  well-authen 
ticated  and  Canonical  book  in  the  reckoning  of  the 
Church,  the  judgment  of  ages,   the  testimony  of 
ancients,    and    the    sense  of  the  faithful.      What 
would  he  say  now  if  he  were  alive  on  earth,  and 
saw  men    like    Luther   and  Calvin  manufacturing 
Bibles,  filing  down  Old  and  New  Testament  with 
a  neat  pretty  little  file  of  their  own,  setting  aside, 
not  the  book  of  wisdom  alone,  but  with  it  very 
many   others    from    the  list  of  Canonical  Books? 
Thus  whatever  does  not  come  out  from  their  shop, 
by  a  mad  decree,  is  liable  to  be  spat  upon  by  all 
as  a  rude  and  barbarous  composition.     They  who 
have  stooped   to    this  dire  and  execrable  way  of 
saving  themselves  surely  are  beaten,  overthrown, 
and  flung  rolling  in  the   dust,  for  all  their  fine 
praises  that  are  in  the  mouths  of  their  admirers, 
for   all    their   traffic    in  priesthoods,  for  all  their 
bawling    in    pulpits,    for    all    their   sentencing   of 


TEN   REASONS  95 

Catholics  to  chains,  rack  and  gallows.  Seated  in 
their  armchairs  as  censors,  as  though  any  one  had 
elected  them  to  that  office,  they  seize  their  pens 
and  mark  passages  as  spurious  even  in  God's  own 
Holy  Writ,  putting  their  pens  through  whatever 
they  cannot  stomach.  Can  any  fairly  educated  man 
be  afraid  of  battalions  of  such  enemies?  If  in 
the  midst  of  your  learned  body  they  had  recourse 
to  such  trickster's  arts,  calling  like  wizards  upon 
their  familiar  spirit,  you  would  shout  at  them, 
—you  would  stamp  your  feet  at  them.  For  instance 
I  would  ask  them  what  right  they  have  to  rend  and 
mutilate  the  body  of  the  Bible.  They  would 
answer  that  they  do  not  cut  out  true  Scriptures, 
but  prune  away  supposititious  accretions.  By  auth 
ority  of  what  judge?  By  the  Holy  Ghost.  This 
is  the  answer  prescribed  by  Calvin  (Instit.  lib. 
i,  c.  7),  for  escaping  this  judgment  of  the  Church 
whereby  spirits  of  prophesy  are  examined.  Why 
then  do  some  of  you  tear  out  one  piece  of  Scrip 
ture,  and  others  another,  whereas  you  all  boast  of 
being  led  by  the  same  Spirit?  The  Spirit  of  the 
Calvinists  receives  six  Epistles  which  do  not  please 
the  Lutheran  Spirit,  both  all  the  while  in  full 
confidence  reposing  on  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
Anabaptists  call  the  book  of  Job  a  fable,  inter 
mixed  with  tragedy  and  comedy.  How  do  they 
know?  The  Spirit  has  taught  them.  Whereas  the 
Song  of  Solomon  is  admired  by  Catholics  as  a 
paradise  of  the  soul,  a  hidden  manna,  and  rich 
delight  in  Christ,  Castalio,  a  lewd  rogue,  has  rec 
koned  it  nothing  better  than  a  love-song  about  a 


96  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

mistress,  and  an  amorous  conversation  with  Court 
flunkeys.  Whence  drew  he  that  intimation?  From 
the  Spirit.  In  the  Apocalypse  of  John,  every  jot 
and  tittle  of  which  Jerane  declares  to  bear  some 
lofty  and  magnificent  meaning,  Luther  and  Brent 
and  Kemnitz,  critics  hard  to  please,  find  something 
wanting,  and  are  inclined  to  throw  over  the  whole 
book.  Whom  have  they  consulted?  The  Spirit. 
Luther  with  preposterous  heat  pits  the  Four  Gospels 
one  against  another  (Praef.  in  Nov.  Test.},  and 
far  prefers  Paul's  Epistles  to  the  first  three,  while 
he  declares  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  above  the  rest 
to  be  beautiful,  true,  and  worthy  of  mention  in  the 
first  place, — thereby  enrolling  even  the  Apostles,  so 
far  as  in  him  lay,  as  having  a  hand  in  his; 
quarrels.  Who  taught  him  to  do  that?  The  Spirit. 
Nay  this  imp  of  a  friar  has  not  hesitated  in  petu 
lant  style  to  assail  Luke's  Gospel  because  therein 
good  and  virtuous  works  are  frequently  commended 
to  us.  Whom  did  he  consult?  The  Spirit.  Theo 
dore  Beza  has  dared  to  carp  at,  as  a  corruption 
and  perversion  of  the  original,  that  mystical  word 
from  the  twenty-second  chapter  of  Luke,  this  is 
the  chalice,  the  new  testament  in  my  blood,  which 
(chalice)  shall  be  shed  for  you  Trorrjpiov  eKyyvb- 
/JLCVOV,  because  this  language  admits  of  no  explana 
tion  other  than  that  of  the  wine  in  the  chalice 
being  converted  into  the  true  blood  of  Christ.  Who 
pointed  that  out?  The  Spirit.  In  short,  in  believing 
all  things  every  man  in  the  faith  of  his  own  spirit, 
they  horribly  belie  and  blaspheme  the  name  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  So  acting,  do  they  not  give  them- 


TEN    REASONS  97 

selves  away?  are  they  not  easily  refuted?  In  an 
assembly  of  learned  men,  such  as  yours,  Gentle 
men  of  the  University,  are  they  not  caught  and 
throttled  without  trouble?  Should  I  be  afraid  on 
behalf  of  the  Catholic  faith  to  dispute  with  these 
men,  who  have  handled  with  the  utmost  ill  faith 
not  human  but  heavenly  utterances?  I  say  nothing 
here  of  their  perverse  versions  of  Scripture, 
though  I  could  accuse  them  in  this  respect  of 
intolerable  doings.  I  will  not  take  the  bread  out 
of  the  mouth  of  that  great  linguist,  my  fellow- 
Collegian,  Gregory  Martin,  who  will  do  this  work 
with  more  learning  and  abundance  of  detail  than  I 
could ;  nor  from  others  whom  I  understand  already 
to  have  that  task  in  hand.  More  wicked  and 
more  abominable  is  the  crime  that  I  am  now  prose 
cuting,  that  there  have  been  found  upstart  Doctors 
who  have  made  a  drunken  onslaught  on  the  hand 
writing  that  is  of  heaven;  who  have  given  judg 
ment  against  it  as  being  in  many  places  defiled, 
defective,  false,  surreptitious;  who  have  corrected 
some  passages,  tampered  with  others;  torn  out 
others;  who  have  converted  every  bulwark  where 
with  it  was  guarded  into  Lutheran  "  spirits,"  what 
I  may  call  phantom  ramparts  and  parted  walls. 
All  this  they  have  done  that  they  might  not  be 
utterly  dumbfounded  by  falling  upon  Scripture 
texts  contrary  to  their  errors,  texts  which  they 
would  have  found  jt  as  hard  to  get  over  as  to 
swallow  hot  ashes  or  chew  stones.  This  then  has 
been  my  First  Reason,  a  strong  and  a  just 
one.  By  revealing  the  shadowy  and  broken 
H 


98  EDMUND   CAMPION'S 

powers  of  the  adverse  faction,  it  has  certainly  given 
new  courage  to  a  Christian  man,  not  unversed  in 
these  studies,  to  fight  for  the  Letters  Patent  of  the 
Eternal  King  against  the  remnant  of  a  routed  foe. 

SECOND  REASON 

THE  SENSE  OF  HOLY  WRIT 

Another  thing  to  incite  me  to  the  encounter,  and 
to  disparage  in  my  eyes  the  poor  forces  of  the 
enemy,  is  the  habit  of  mind  which  they  continually 
display  in  their  exposition  of  the  Scriptures,  full  of 
deceit,  void  of  wisdom.  As  philosophers,  you 
would  seize  these  points  at  once.  Therefore  I  have 
desired  to  have  you  for  my  audience.  Suppose,  for 
example,  we  ask  our  adversaries  on  what  ground 
they  have  concocted  that  novel  and  sectarian 
opinion  which  banishes  Christ  from  the  Mystic  Sup 
per.  If  they  name  the  Gospel,  we  meet  them 
promptly.  On  our  side  are  the  words,  this  is  my 
body,  this  is  my  blood.  This  language  seemed 
to  Luther  himself  so  forcible,  that  for  all  his  strong 
desire  to  turn  Zwinglian,  thinking  by  that  means 
to  make  it  most  awkward  for  the  Pope,  nevertheless 
he  was  caught  and  fast  bound  by  this  most  open 
context,  and  gave  in  to  it  {Luther,  epistol.  ad  Ar 
gent.},  and  confessed  Christ  truly  present  in  the 
Most  Holy  Sacrament  no  less  unwillingly  than  the 
demons  of  old,  overcome  by  His  miracles,  cried 
aloud  that  He  was  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  Well 
then,  the  written  text  gives  us  the  advantage:  the 
dispute  now  turns  on  the  sense  of  what  is  written, 


TEN   REASONS  99 

Let  us  examine  this  from  the  words  in  the  context, 
my  body  which  is  given  for  you,  my  blood  which 
shall  be  shed  for  many.  Still  the  explanation  on 
Calvin's  side  is  most  hard,  on  ours  easy  and  quite 
plain. 

What  further?  Compare  the  Scriptures,  they 
say,  one  with  another.  By  all  means.  The  Gos 
pels  agree,  Paul  concurs.  The  words,  the  clauses, 
the  whole  sentence  reverently  repeat  living  bread, 
signal  miracle,  heavenly  food,  flesh,  body,  blood. 
There  is  nothing  enigmatical,  nothing  befogged 
with  a  mist  of  words.  Still  our  adversaries  hold 
on  and  make  no  end  of  altercation.  What  are  we 
to  do?  I  presume,  Antiquity  should  be  heard; 
and  what  we,  two  parties  suspect  of  one  another, 
cannot  settle,  let  it  be  settled  by  the  decision  of 
venerable  ancient  men  of  all  past  ages,  as  being 
nearer  Christ  and  further  removed  from  this  con 
tention.  They  cannot  stand  that,  they  protest  that 
they  are  being  betrayed,  they  appeal  to  the  word 
of  God  pure  and  simple,  they  turn  away  from  the 
comments  of  men.  Treacherous  and  fatuous  ex 
cuse.  We  urge  the  word  of  God,  they  darken  the 
meaning  of  it.  We  appeal  to  the  witness  of  the 
Saints  as  interpreters,  they  withstand  them.  In 
short  their  position  is  that  there  shall  be  no  trial,, 
unless  you  stand  by  the  judgment  of  the  accused 
party.  And  so  they  behave  in  every  controversy 
which  we  start.  On  infused  grace,  on  inherent 
justice,  on  the  visible  Church,  on  the  necessity  of 
Baptism,  on  Sacraments  and  Sacrifice,  on  the 
merits  of  the  good,  on  hope  and  fear,  on  the  differ- 


loo  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

ence  of  guilt  in  sins,  on  the  authority  of  Peter,  on 
the  keys,  on  vows,  on  the  evangelical  counsels,  on 
other  such  points,  we  Catholics  have  cited  and  dis 
cussed  Scripture  texts  not  a  few,  and  of  much 
weight,  everywhere  in  books,  in  meetings,  in 
churches,  in  the  Divinity  School :  they  have  eluded 
them.  We  have  brought  to  bear  upon  them  the 
scholia  of  the  ancients,  Greek  and  Latin :  they  have 
refused  them.  What  then  is  their  refuge?  Doctor 
Martin  Luther,  or  else  Philip  (Melancthon),  or  any 
how  Zwingle,  or  beyond  doubt  Calvin  and  Besa 
have  faithfully  laid  down  the  facts.  Can  I  suppose 
any  of  you  to  be  so  dull  of  sense  as  not  to  perceive 
this  artifice  when  he  is  told  of  it?  Wherefore  I 
must  confess  how  earnestly  I  long  for  the  Univer 
sity  Schools  as  a  place  where,  with  you  looking 
on,  I  could  call  those  carpet-knights  out  of  their 
delicious  retreats  into  the  heat  and  dust  of  action, 
and  break  their  power,  not  by  any  strength  of  my 
own, — for  I  am  not  comparable,  not  one  per  cent., 
with  the  rest  of  our  people, — but  by  force  of  a 
strong  case  and  most  certain  truth. 

THIRD  REASON 

THE  NATURE  OF  THE  CHURCH 

At  hearing  the  name  of  the  Church  the  enemy 
has  turned  pale.  Still  he  has  devised  some  ex 
planation  which  I  wish  you  to  notice,  that  you  may 
observe  the  ruinous  and  poverty-stricken  estate  of 
falsehood.  He  was  well  aware  that  in  the  Scrip 
tures,  as  well  of  Prophets  as  of  Apostles,  every- 


TEN   REASONS  lot 

where  there  is  made  honourable  mention  of  the 
Church:  that  it  is  called  the  holy  city,  the  fruit 
ful  vine,  the  high  mountain,  the  straight  way,  the 
only  dove,  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  the  spouse  and 
body  of  Christ,  the  ground  of  truth,  the  multitude 
to  whom  the  Spirit  has  been  promised  and  into 
whom  He  breathes  all  truths  that  make  for  salva 
tion;  her  on  whom,  taken  as  a  whole,  the  devil's 
jaws  are  never  to  inflict  a  deadly  bite ;  her  against 
whom  whoever  rebels,  however  much  he  preach 
Christ  with  his  mouth,  has  no  more  hold  on  Christ 
than  the  publican  or  the  heathen.  Such  a  loud 
pronouncement  he  dared  not  gainsay;  he  would 
not  seem  rebellious  against  a  Church  of  which  the 
Scriptures  make  such  frequent  mention :  so  he  cun 
ningly  kept  the  name,  while  by  his  definition  he 
utterly  abolished  the  thing,  He  has  depicted  the 
Church  with  such  properties  as  altogether  hide  her 
away,  and  leave  her  open  to  the  secret  gaze  of  a 
very  few  men,  as  though  she  were  removed  from 
the  senses,  like  a  Platonic  Idea.  They  only  could 
discern  her,  who  by  a  singular  inspiration  had  got 
the  faculty  of  grasping  with  their  intelligence  this 
aerial  body,  and  with  keen  eye  regarding  the  mem 
bers  of  such  a  company. 

What  has  become  of  candour  and  straightfor 
wardness?  What  Scripture  texts  or  Scripture 
meanings  or  authorities  of  Fathers  thus  portray  the 
Church?  There  are  letters  of  Christ  to  the  Asiatic 
Churches  (Apoc.  i.  3),  letters  of  Peter,  Paul,  John, 
and  others  to  various  Churches;  frequent  mention 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  of  the  origin  and  spread 


CAMPION'S 

of  Churches.  What  of  these  Churches?  Were 
they  visible  to  God  alone  and  holy  men,  or  to 
Christians  of  every  rank  and  degree?  But,  doubt 
less,  necessity  is  a  hard  weapon.  Pardon  these 
subterfuges.  Throughout  the  whole  course  of  fif 
teen  centuries  these  men  find  neither  town,  village, 
nor  household  professing  their  doctrine,  until  an 
unhappy  monk  by  an  incestuous  marriage  had 
deflowered  a  virgin  vowed  to  God,  or  a  Swiss 
gladiator  had  conspired  against  his  country,  or  a 
branded  runaway  had  occupied  Geneva.  These 
people,  if  they  want  to  have  a  Church  at  all,  are 
compelled  to  crack  up  a  Church  all  hidden  away ; 
and  to  claim  parents  whom  they  themselves  have 
never  known,  and  no  mortal  has  ever  set  eyes  on. 
Perhaps  they  glory  in  the  ancestry  of  men  whom 
every  one  knows  to  have  been  heretics,  such  as 
Aerius,  Jovinianus,  Vigilantius,  Helvidius,  Beren- 
garius,  the  Waldenses,  the  Lollards,  WyclifTe, 
Huss,  of  whom  they  have  begged  sundry  poisonous 
fragments  of  dogmas.  Wonder  not  that  I  have 
no  fear  of  their  empty  talk :  once  I  can  meet  them 
in  the  noon- day,  I  shall  have  no  trouble  in  dis 
pelling  such  vapourings.  Our  conversation  with 
them  would  take  this  line.  Tell  me,  do  you  sub 
scribe  to  the  Church  which  flourished  in  bygone 
ages?  Certainly.  Let  us  traverse,  then,  different 
countries  and  periods.  What  Church?  The 
assembly  of  the  faithful.  What  faithful?  Their 
names  are  unknown,  but  it  is  certain  that  there 
have  been  many  of  them.  Certain?  to  whom  is  it 
certain?  To  God  Who  says  so!  We,  who  have 


TEN    REASONS  103 

been  taught  of  God — stuff  and  nonsense,  how  am  I 
to  believe  it?  If  you  had  the  fire  of  faith  in  you, 
you  would  know  it  as  well  as  you  know  you 
are  alive.  Let  in  as  spectators,  could  you  withhold 
your  laughter?  To  think  that  all  Christians  should 
be  bidden  to  join  the  Church;  to  beware  of  being 
cut  down  by  the  spiritual  sword;  to  keep  peace  in 
the  house  of  God ;  to  trust  their  soul  to  the  Church 
as  to  the  pillar  of  truth ;  to  lay  all  their  complaints 
before  the  Church;  to  hold  for  heathen  all 
who  are  cast  out  of  the  Church ;  and  that  neverthe 
less  so  many  men  for  so  many  centuries  should 
not  know  where  the  Church  is  or  who  belong  to 
it  I  This  much  only  they  prate  in  the  darkness, 
that  wherever  the  Church  is,  only  Saints  and  per 
sons  destined  for  heaven  are  contained  in  it.  Hence 
it  follows  that  whoever  wishes  to  withdraw  himself 
from  the  authority  of  his  ecclesiastical  superior  has 
only  to  persuade  himself  that  the  priest  has  fallen 
into  sin  and  is  quite  cut  off  from  the  Church. 
Knowing  as  I  did  that  the  adversaries  were  in 
venting  these  fictions,  contrary  to  the  customary 
sense  of  the  Churches  in  all  ages,  and  that,  having 
lost  the  whole  substance,  they  still  wished  in  their 
difficulties  to  retain  the  name,  I  took  comfort  in 
the  thought  of  your  sagacity,  and  so  promised 
myself  that,  as  soon  as  ever  you  had  cognisance  of 
such  artifices  by  their  own  confession,  you  would 
at  once  like  men  of  mark  and  intelligence  rend 
asunder  the  web  of  foolish  sophistry  woven  for 
your  undoing. 


104  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

FOURTH  REASON 
COUNCILS 

In  the  infant  Church  a  grave  question  about 
lawful  ceremonies,  which  troubled  the  minds  of 
believers,  was  solved  by  the  gathering  of  a  Council 
of  Apostles  and  elders.  The  Children  believed 
their  parents,  the  sheep  their  shepherds,  com 
manding  in  their  words,  //  hath  seemed  good  to 
the  Hvly  Ghost  and  to  us  (Acts  xv).  There  fol 
lowed  for  the  extirpation  of  various  heresies  in 
various  several  ages,  four  (Ecumenical  Councils  of 
the  ancients,  the  doctrine  whereof  was  so  well 
established  that  a  thousand  years  ago  (see  St. 
Gregory  the  Great's  Epistles,  lib.  i.  cap.  24)  sin 
gular  honour  was  paid  to  it  as  to  an  utterance  of 
God.  I  will  travel  no  further  abroad.  Even  in 
our  home,  in  Parliament  (ann.  i  Elisabeth),  the 
same  Councils  keep  their  former  right  and  their 
dignity  inviolate.  These  I  will  cite,  and  I  will 
call  thee,  England,  my  sweet  country,  to  witness. 
If,  as  thou  professest,  thou  wilt  reverence  these  four 
Councils,  thou  shalt  give  chief  honour  to  the 
Bishop  of  the  first  See,  that  is  to  Peter:  thou  shalt 
recognise  on  the  altar  the  unbloody  sacrifice  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ:  thou  shalt  beseech  the 
blessed  martyrs  and  all  the  saints  to  intercede  with 
Christ  on  thy  behalf :  thou  shalt  restrain  womanish 
apostates  from  unnatural  vice  and  public  incest: 
thou  shalt  do  many  things  that  thou  art  undoing, 


TEN    REASONS  105 

and  wish  undone  much  that  thou  art  doing.  Fur 
thermore,  I  promise  and  undertake  to  show,  when 
opportunity  offers,  that  the  Synods  of  other  ages, 
and  notably  the  Synod  of  Trent,  have  been  of  the 
same  authority  and  credence  as  the  first.  Armed 
therefore  with  the  strong  and  choice  support  of 
all  the  Councils,  why  should  I  not  enter  into  this 
arena  with  calmness  and  presence  of  mind,  watch 
ful  to  keep  an  eye  on  my  adversary  and  see  on 
what  point  he  will  show  himself?  I  will  produce 
testimonies  most  evident  that  he  cannot  wrest  aside. 
Possibly  he  will  take  to  scolding,  and  endeavour 
to  talk  against  time,  but  he  will  not  elude  the  eyes 
and  ears  of  men  who  will  watch  him  hard,  as  you 
will  do,  if  you  are  the  men  I  take  you  for.  But 
if  there  shall  be  any  one  found  so  stark  mad  as 
to  set  his  single  self  up  as  a  match  for  the  senators 
of  the  world,  men  whose  greatness,  holiness,  learn 
ing  and  antiquity  is  beyond  all  exception,  I  shall 
be  glad  to  look  upon  that  face  of  impudence ;  and 
when  I  have  shown  it  to  you,  I  will  leave  the  rest 
to  your  own  thoughts.  Meanwhile  I  will  say  thus 
much:  The  man  who  refuses  consideration  and 
weight  to  a  Plenary  Council,  brought  to  a  conclu 
sion  in  due  and  orderly  fashion,  seems  to  me 
witless,  brainless,  a  dullard  in  theology,  and  a 
fool  in  politics.  If  ever  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
shone  upon  the  Church,  then  surely  is  the  time  for 
the  sending  of  divine  aid,  when  the  most  manifest 
religiousness,  ripeness  of  judgment,  science,  wis 
dom,  dignity  of  all  the  Churches  on  earth  have 
flocked  together  in  one  city,  and  with  employment 


io6  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

of  all  means,  divine  and  human,  for  the  investi 
gation  of  truth,  implore  the  promised  Spirit  that 
they  may  make  wholesome  and  prudent  decrees. 
Let  there  now  leap  to  the  front  some  mannikin 
master  of  an  heretical  faction,  let  him  arch  his 
eyebrows,  turn  up  his  nose,  rub  his  forehead,  and 
scurrilously  take  upon  himself  to  judge  his  judges, 
what  sport,  what  ridicule  will  he  excite  1  There 
was  found  a  Luther  to  say  that  he  preferred  to 
Councils  the  opinions  of  two  godly  and  learned 
men  (say  his  own  and  Philip  Melanchthon's)  when 
they  agreed  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Oh  what 
quackery  1  There  was  found  a  Kemnitz  to  try  the 
Council  of  Trent  by  the  standard  of  his  own  rude 
and  giddy  humour.  What  gained  he  thereby? 
Infamy.  While  he,  unless  he  takes  care,  shall  be 
buried  with  Arius,  the  Synod  of  Trent,  the  older  it 
grows,  shall  flourish  the  more,  day  by  day,  and 
year  by  year.  Good  God!  what  variety  of  nations, 
what  a  choice  assembly  of  Bishops  of  the  whole 
world,  what  a  splendid  representation  of  Kings 
and  Commonwealths,  what  a  quintessence  of  theolo 
gians,  what  sanctity,  what  tears,  what  fears,  what 
flowers  of  Universities,  what  tongues,  what  sub 
tlety,  what  labour,  what  infinite  reading,  what 
wealth  of  virtues  and  of  studies  filled  that  august 
sanctuary  1  I  have  myself  heard  Bishops,  eminent 
and  prudent  men, — and  among  them  Antony,  Arch 
bishop  of  Prague,  by  whom  I  was  made  Priest, — 
exulting  that  they  had  attended  such  a  school  for 
some  years;  so  that,  much  as  they  owed  to  Kaiser 
Ferdinand,  they,  considered  that  he  had  shown 
them  no  more  royal  and  abundant  bounty  than  this 


TEN  REASONS  to; 

of  sending  them  to  sit  in  that  Academy  of  Trent 
as  Legates  from  Bohemia.  The  Kaiser  understood 
this,  and  on  their  return  he  welcomed  them  with 
the  words,  "  We  have  kept  you  at  a  good  school." 
Invited  as  our  adversaries  have  been  under  a  safe 
conduct,  why  have  they  not  hastened  thither,  pub 
licly  to  refute  those  against  whom  they  go  on 
quacking  like  frogs  from  their  holes?  "  They  broke 
their  promise  to  Huss  and  Jerome,"  is  their  reply. 
Who  broke  it?  "  The  Fathers  of  the  Council  of 
Constance."  It  is  false;  they  never  gave  any 
promise.  But  anyhow,  not  even  Huss  would  have 
been  punished  had  not  the  perfidious  and  pesti 
lent  fellow  been  brought  back  from  that  flight 
which  the  Emperor  Sigusmund  had  forbidden  him 
under  pain  of  death;  had  he  not  violated  the  con 
ditions  which  he  had  agreed  to  in  writing  with 
the  Kaiser  and  thereby  nullified  all  the  value  of 
that  safe-conduct.  Huss's  hasty  wickedness 
played  him  false.  For,  having  instigated  deeds 
of  savage  violence  in  his  native  Bohemia,  and  being 
bidden  thereupon  to  present  himself  at  Constance, 
he  despised  the  prerogative  of  the  Council,  and 
sought  his  safe-conduct  of  the  Kaiser.  Caesar 
signed  it ;  the  Christian  world,  greater  than  Caesar, 
cancelled  the  signature.  The  heresiarch  refused 
to  return  to  a  sound  mind,  and  so  perished. 
As  for  Jerome  of  Prague,  he  came  to  Con 
stance  protected  by  no  one;  he  was  detected  and 
arraigned;  he  spoke  in  his  own  behalf,  was  treated 
very  kindly,  went  free  whither  he  would;  he  was 
healed,  abjured  his  heresy,  relapsed,  and  was  burnt. 
Why  do  they  so  often  drag  out  one  case  in 


io8  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

a  thousand  ?  Let  them  read  their  own  annals. 
Martin  Luther  himself,  that  abomination  of  God 
and  men,  was  put  in  court  at  Augsburg  before  Car 
dinal  Cajetan:  there  did  he  not  belch  out  all  he 
could,  and  then  depart  in  safety,  fortified  with  a 
letter  of  Maximilian?  Likewise,  when  he  was  sum 
moned  to  Worms,  and  had  against  him  the  Kaiser 
and  most  of  the  Princes  of  the  Empire,  was  he  not 
safe  under  the  protection  of  the  Kaiser's  word? 
Lastly,  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  in  presence  of 
Charles  V.,  an  enemy  of  heretics,  flushed  with 
victory,  master  of  the  situation,  did  not  the  heads 
of  the  Lutherans  and  Zwinglians,  under  truce,  pre 
sent  their  Confessions,  so  frequently  re-edited,  and 
depart  in  peace?  Not  otherwise  had  the  letter 
from  Trent  provided  most  ample  safe-guards  for 
the  adversary  ;  he  would  not  take  advantage 
of  them.  The  fact  is,  he  airs  his  condition  in  cor 
ners,  where  he  expects  to  figure  as  a  sage  by  coming 
out  with  three  words  of  Greek:  he  shrinks  from 
the  light,  which  should  place  him  in  the  number 
of  men  of  letters  \litter atoruni\  and  call  him  to  sit 
in  honourable  place.  Let  them  obtain  for  English 
Catholics  such  a  written  promise  of  impunity,  if 
they  love  the  salvation  of  souls.  We  will  not  raise 
the  instance  of  Huss:  relying  on  the  Sovereign's 
word,  we  will  fly  to  Court.  But,  to  return  to  the 
point  whence  I  digressed,  the  General  Councils  are 
mine,  the  first,  the  last,  and  those  between.  With 
them  I  will  fight.  Let  the  adversary  look  for  a 
javelin  hurled  with  force,  which  he  will  never  be 
able  to  pluck  out.  Let  Satan  be  overthrown  in 
him,  and  Christ  live. 


TEN    REASONS  109 

FIFTH  REASON 
FATHERS 

At  Antioch,  in  which  city  the  noble  surname  of 
Christians  first  became  common,  there  flourished 
Doctors,  that  is,  eminent  theologians,  and  Prophets, 
that  is,  very  celebrated  preachers  (Acts  xiii.  i). 
Of  this  sort  were  the  scribes  and  wise  men,  learned 
in  the  kingdom  of  God,  bringing  forth  new  things 
and  old  (Matth.  xiii.  52;  xxiii.  34),  knowing- 
Christ  and  Moses,  whom  the  Lord  promised  to  His 
future  flock.  What  a  wicked  thing  it  is  to  scout 
these  teachers,  given  as  they  are  by  way  of  a  mighty 
boon!  The  adversary  has  scouted  them.  Why? 
Because  their  standing  means  his  fall.  Having 
found  that  out  for  certain  beyond  doubt,  I  have 
asked  for  a  fight  unqualified,  not  that  sham-fight 
in  which  the  crowds  in  the  street  engage,  and  skir 
mish  with  one  another,  but  the  earnest  and  keen 
struggle  in  which  we  join  in  the  arena  of  yon  philo 
sophers, 

Foot  to  foot,  and  man  close  gripping  man. 

If  ever  we  shall  be  allowed  to  turn  to  the  Fathers, 
the  battle  is  lost  and  won :  they  are  as  thoroughly 
ours  as  is  Gregory  XIII.  himself,  the  loving  Father 
of  the  children  of  the  Church.  To  say  nothing 
of  isolated  passages,  which  are  gathered  from  the 
records  of  the  ancients,  apt  and  clear  statements 
in  defence  of  our  faith,  we  hold  entire  volumes  of 
these  Fathers,  which  professedly  illustrate  in  clear 


no  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

and  abundant  light  the  Gospel  religion  which  we 
defend.  Take  the  twofold  Hierarchy  of  the  martyr 
Dionysius,  what  classes,  what  sacrifices,  what  rites 
does  he  teach?  This  fact  struck  Luther  so  forci 
bly  that  he  pronounced  the  works  of  this  Father 
to  be  "  such  stuff  as  dreams  are  made  of,  and  that 
of  the  most  pernicious  kind."  In  imitation  of  his 
parent,  an  obscure  Frenchman,  Caussee,  has  not 
hesitated  to  call  this  Dionysius,  the  Apostle  of  an 
illustrious  nation,  "  an  old  dotard."  Ignatius  has 
given  grievous  offence  to  the  Centuriators  of 
Magdeburg,  as  also  to  Calvin,  so  that  these  men, 
the  offscouring  of  mankind,  have  noted  in  his  works 
"  unsightly  blemishes  and  tasteless  prosings."  In 
their  judgment,  Irenaeus  has  brought  out  "  a 
fanatical  production  " :  Clement,  the  author  of  the 
Stromata,  has  produced  "Tares  and  dregs  ":  the 
other  Fathers  of  this  age,  Apostolic  men  to  be  sure, 
"  have  left  blasphemies  and  monstrosities  to  pos 
terity."  In  Tertullian  they  eagerly  seize  upon  what 
they  have  learned  from  us,  in  common  with  us, 
to  detest ;  but  they  should  remember  that  his  book 
On  Prescriptions,  which  has  so  signally  smitten  the 
heretics  of  our  times,  was  never  found  fault  with. 
How  finely,  how  clearly,  has  Hippolytus,  Bishop 
of  Porto  pointed  out  beforehand  the  power  of  Anti 
christ,  the  times  of  Luther!  They  call  him,  th^r^- 
fore,  "  a  most  babyish  writer,  an  owl."  Cyprian, 
the  delight  and  glory  of  Africa,  that  French  critic 
Causse*e,  and  the  Centuriators  of  Magdeburg,  have 
termed  "stupid,  God-forsaken  corrupter  of  repen 
tance,"  What  harm  has  he  done  ?  He  has 


TEN    REASONS  in 

written  On  Virgins,  On  the  Lapsed,  On  the  Unity 
of  the  Church,  such  treatises  as  also  such  letters  to 
Cornelius,  the  Roman  Pontiff,  that,  unless  credence 
be  withdrawn  from  this  Martyr,  Peter  Martyr  Ver- 
milius  and  all  his  associates  must  count  for  worse 
than  adulterers  and  men  guilty  of  sacrilege.  And, 
not  to  dwell  longer  on  individuals,  the  Fathers  of 
this  age  are  all  condemned  "  for  wonderful  corrup 
tion  of  the  doctrine  of  repentance."  How  so?  Be 
cause  the  austerity  of  the  Canons  in  vogue  at  that 
time  is  particularly  obnoxious  to  this  plausible  sect 
which,  better  fitted  for  dining-rooms  than  for 
churches,  is  wont  to  tickle  voluptuous  ears  and  to  sew 
cushions  on  every  arm  (Ezech.  xiii.  18).  Take  the 
next  age,  what  offence  has  that  committed?  Chry- 
sostom  and  those  Fathers,  forsooth,  have  "  foully 
obscured  the  justice  of  faith."  Gregory  Nazianzen 
whom  the  ancients  called  eminently  "  the  Theo 
logian,"  is  in  the  judgment  of  Causse*e  "  a  chatter 
box,  who  did  not  know  what  he  was  saying." 
Ambrose  was  "  under  the  spell  of  an  evil  demon." 
Jerome  is  "  as  damnable  as  the  devil,  injurious  to 
the  Apostle,  a  blasphemer,  a  wicked  wretch."  To 
Gregory  Massow — "  Calvin  alone  is  worth  more 
than  a  hundred  Augustines."  A  hundred  is  a  small 
number  :  Luther  "  reckons  nothing  of  having 
against  him  a  thousand  Augustines,  a  thousand 
Cyprians,  a  thousand  Churches."  I  think  I  need 
not  carry  the  matter  further.  For  when  men  rage 
against  the  above-mentioned  Fathers,  who  can 
wonder  at  the  impertinence  of  their  language 
against  Optatus,  Hilary,  the  two  Cyrils,  Epiphanius, 


112  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

Basil,  Vincent,  Fulgentius,  Leo,  and  the  Roman 
Gregory.  However,  if  we  grant  any  just  defence 
of  an  unjust  cause,  I  do  not  'deny  that  the  Fathers, 
wherever  you  light  upon  them,  afford  the  party  of 
our  opponents  matter  they  needs  must  disagree 
with,  so  long  as  they  are  consistent  with  them 
selves.  Men  who  have  appointed  fast-days,  how 
must  they  be  minded  in  regard  of  Basil,  Gregory 
Nazianzen,  Leo,  Chrysostom,  who  have  published 
telling  sermons  on  Lent  and  prescribed  days  of 
fasting  as  things  already  in  customary  use?  Men 
who  have  sold  their  souls  for  gold,  lust,  drunken 
ness  and  ambitious  display,  can  they  be  other  than 
most  hostile  to  Basil,  Chrysostom,  Jerome,  Augus 
tine,  whose  excellent  books  are  in  the  hands  of  all, 
treating  of  the  institute,  rule,  and  virtues  of  monks? 
Men  who  have  carried  the  human  will  into  cap 
tivity,  who  have  abolished  Christian  funerals,  who 
have  burnt  the  relics  of  Saints,  can  they  possibly  be 
reconciled  to  Augustine,  who  has  composed  three 
books  on  Free  Will,  one  on  Care  for  the  Dead,  be 
sides  sundry  sermons  and  a  long  chapter  in  a  noble 
work  on  the  Miracles  wrought  at  the  Basilicas  and 
Monuments  of  the  Martyrs?  Men  who  measure 
faith  by  their  own  quips  and  quirks,  must  they  not 
be  angry  with  Augustine,  of  whom  there  is  extant 
a  remarkable  Letter  against  a  Manichean,  in  which 
he  professes  himself  to  assent  to  Antiquity,  to  Con 
sent,  to  Perpetuity  of  Succession,  and  to  the  Church 
which,  alone  among  so  many  heresies,  claims  by 
prescriptive  right  the  name  of  Catholic? 

Optatus,  Bishop  of  Milevis,  refutes  the  Dona- 


TEN    REASONS  113 

tist  faction  by  appeal  to  Catholic  communion:   he 
accuses  their  wickedness  by  appeal  to  the  decree  of 
Melchiades :  he  convicts  their  heresy  by  reference  to 
the  order  of  succession  of  Roman  Pontiffs :  he  lays 
open  their  frenzy  in  their  defilement  of  the  Euchar 
ist  and  of  schism :  he  abhors  their  sacrilege  in  their 
breaking  of  altars  "  on  which  the  members  of  Christ 
are  borne,"  and  their  pollution  of  chalices  "  which 
have  held  the  blood  of  Christ."  I  greatly  desire  to 
know  what  they  think  of  Optatus,  whom  Augustine 
mentions  as  a  venerable  Catholic  Bishop,  the  equal 
of  Ambrose  and  of  Cyprian;  and  Fulgentius  as  a 
holy  and  faithful  interpreter  of  Paul,  like  unto 
Augustine    and    Ambrose.       They    sing    in    their 
churches  the  Creed  of  Athanasius.     Do  they  stand 
by  him?     That  grave  anchor  who  has  written  an 
elaborate  book  in  praise  of  the  Egyptian  hermit 
Antony,  and  who  with  the  Synod  of  Alexandria 
suppliantly  appealed  to  the  judgment  of  the  Apos 
tolic  See,  the  See  of  St.  Peter.     How  often  does 
Prudentius  in  his  Hymns  pray  to  the  martyrs  whose 
praises  he  sings !  how  often  at  their  ashes  and  bones 
does  he  venerate  the  King  of  Martyrs !     Will  they 
approve  his   proceeding?      Jerome  writes  against 
Vigilantius  in  defence  of  the  relics  of  the  Saints 
and  the  honours  paid  to  them ;  as  also  against  Jo- 
vinian  for  the  rank  to  be  allowed  to  virginity.    Will 
they  endure  him?     Ambrose  honoured  his  patron 
saints  Gervase  and  Protase  with  a  most  glorious 
solemnity  by  way  of  putting  the  Arians  to  shame. 
This   action   of   his   was   praised  by   most   godly 
Fathers,  and  God  honoured  it  with  more  than  one 


114  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

miracle.  Are  they  going  to  take  a  kindly  view  of 
Ambrose  here?  Gregory  the  Great,  our  Apostle, 
is  most  manifestly  with  us,  and  therefore  is  a  hate 
ful  personage  to  our  adversaries.  Calvin,  in  his 
rage,  says  that  he  was  not  brought  up  in  the  school 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  seeing  that  he  had  called  holy 
images  the  books  of  the  illiterate. 

Time  would  fail  me  were  I  to  try  to  count  up  the 
Epistles,  Sermons,  Homilies,  Orations,  Opuscula 
and  dissertations  of  the  Fathers,  in  which  they 
have  laboriously,  earnestly  and  with  much  learning 
supported  the  doctrines  of  us  Catholics.  As  long 
as  these  works  are  for  sale  at  the  booksellers'  shops, 
it  will  be  vain  to  prohibit  the  writings  of  our  con 
troversialists ;  vain  to  keep  watch  at  the  ports  and 
on  the  sea-coast;  vain  to  search  houses,  boxes, 
desks,  and  book-chests;  vain  to  set  up  so  many 
threatening  notices  at  the  gates.  No  Harding,  nor 
Sanders,  nor  Allen,  nor  Stapleton,  nor  Bristow, 
attack  these  new-fangled  fancies  with  more  vigour 
than  do  the  Fathers  whom  I  have  enumerated. 
As  I  think  over  these  and  the  like  facts,  my  cour 
age  has  grown  and  my  ardour  for  battle,  in  which 
whatever  way  the  adversary  stirs,  unless  he  will 
yield  glory  to  God,  he  will  be  in  straits.  Let  him 
admit  the  Fathers,  he  is  caught :  let  him  shut  them 
out,  he  is  undone. 

When  we  were  young  men,  the  following  inci 
dent  occurred.  John  Jewell,  a  foremost  champion 
of  the  Calvinists  of  England,  with  incredible  arro 
gance  challenged  the  Catholics  at  St.  Paul's,  Lon 
don,  invoking  hypocritically  and  calling  upon  the 


TEN    REASONS  115 

Fathers,  who  had  flourished  within  the  first  six  hun 
dred  years  of  Christianity.  His  wager  was  taken 
up  by  the  illustrious  men  who  were  then  in  exile  at 
Louvain,  hemmed  in  though  they  were  with  very 
great  difficulties  by  reason  of  the  iniquity  of  their 
times.  I  venture  to  assert  that  that  device  of 
Jewell's,  stupid,  unconscionable,  shameless  a.;  it 
was,  qualities  which  those  writers  happily  brought 
out,  did  so  much  good  to  our  countrymen  that 
scarcely  anything  in  my  recollection  has  turned  out 
to  the  better  advantage  of  the  suffering  English 
Church.  At  once  an  edict  is  hung  up  on  the  doors, 
forbidding  the  reading  or  retaining  of  any  of  those 
books,  whereas  they  had  come  out,  or  were  wrung 
out,  I  may  almost  say,  by  the  outcry  that  Jewell  had 
raised.  The  result  was  that  all  the  persons  interested 
in  the  matter  came  to  understand  that  the  Fathers 
were  Catholics,  that  is  to  say,  ours.  Nor  has  Law 
rence  Humphrey  passed  over  in  silence  this  wound 
inflicted  on  him  and  his  party.  After  high  praise 
of  Jewell  in  other  respects,  he  fixes  on  him  this  role 
of  inconsiderateness,  that  he  admitted  the  reason 
ings  of  the  Fathers,  with  whom  Humphrey  de 
clares,  without  any  beating  about  the  bush,  that 
he  has  nothing  in  common  nor  ever  will  have. 

We  also  sounded  once  in  familiar  discourse  Toby 
Matthews,  now  a  leading  preacher,  whom  we  loved 
for  his  good  accomplishments  and  the  seeds  of  vir 
tue  in  him;  we  asked  him  to  answer  honestly 
whether  one  who  read  the  Fathers  assiduously 
could  belong  to  that  party  which  he  supported. 
He  answered  that  he  could  not,  if,  besides  reading, 


n6  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

he  also  believed  them.1  This  saying  is  most  true ; 
nor  do  I  think  that  either  he  at  the  present  time, 
or  Matthew  Hutten,  a  man  of  name,  who  is  said  to 
read  the  Fathers  with  an  assiduity  that  few  equal, 
or  other  adversaries  who  do  the  like,  are  otherwise 
minded. 

Thus  far  I  have  been  able  to  descend  with  secur 
ity  into  this  field  of  conflict,  to  wage  war  with  men, 
who,  as  though  they  held  a  wolf  by  the  ears,  are 
compelled  to  brand  their  cause  with  an  everlast 
ing  stigma  of  shame,  whether  they  refuse  the 
3?  athers  or  whether  they  call  for  them.  In  the  one 
case  they  are  preparing  to  run  away,  in  the  other 
they  are  caught  by  the  throat. 

SIXTH  REASON 

THE  GROUNDS  OF  ARGUMENT  ASSUMED  BY  THE 

FATHERS 

If  ever  any  men  took  to  heart  and  made  their 
special  care, — as  men  of  our  religion  have  made 
it  and  should  make  it  their  special  care, — to  observe 
the  rule,  Search  the  Scriptures  (John  v.  39),  the 
holy  Fathers  easily  come  out  first  and  take  the  palm 
for  the  matter  of  this  observance.  By  their  labour 
and  at  their  expense  Bibles  have  been  transcribed 
and  carried  among  so  many  nations  and  tongues: 
by  the  perils  they  have  run  and  the  tortures  they 

1  Cf .  Newman,  Lectures  on  Anglican  Difficulties,  Lect. 
xii. :  "  I  say,  then,  the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  so  far  from 
prejudicing  at  least  one  man  (J.H.N.)  against  the  modern 
Church,  have  been  singly  and  solely  the  one  intellectual 
cause  of  his  having  renounced  the  religion  in  which  he  was 
born  and  submitted  himself  to  her." 


TEN    REASONS  117 

have  endured  the  Sacred  Volumes  have  been 
snatched  from  the  flames  and  devastation  spread 
by  enemies:  by  their  labours  and  vigils  they  have 
been  explained  in  every  detail.  Night  and  day 
they  drank  in  Holy  Writ,  from  all  pulpits  they 
gave  forth  Holy  Writ,  with  Holy  Writ  they  en-, 
riched  immense  volumes,  with  most  faithful  com 
mentaries  they  unfolded  the  sense  of  Holy  Writ, 
with  Holy  Writ  they  seasoned  alike  their  absti 
nence  and  their  meals,  finally,occupied  about  Holy 
Writ  they  arrived  at  decrepit  old  age.  And  if  they 
also  frequently  have  argued  from  the  Authority  of 
Elders,  from  the  Practice  of  the  Church,  from  the 
Succession  of  Pontiffs,  from  (Ecumenical  Councils, 
from  Apostolic  Traditions,  from  the  Blood  of  Mar 
tyrs,  from  the  decrees  of  Bishops,  from  Miracles, 
yet  most  persistently  of  all  and  most  willingly  do 
they  set  forth  in  close  array  the  testimonies  of  Holy 
Writ:  these  they  press  home,  on  these  they  dwell, 
to  this  armour  of  the  strong  (Cant.  iii.  7),  for  the 
best  of  reasons,  is  the  first  and  the  most  honourable 
part  assigned  by  these  valiant  leaders  in  their  work 
of  forgiving  and  keeping  in  repair  the  City  of  God 
against  the  assaults  of  the  wicked. 

Wherefore  I  do  all  the  more  wonder  at  that 
haughty  and  famous  objection  of  the  adversary, 
who,  like  one  looking  for  water  in  a  running  stream, 
takes  exception  to  the  lack  of  Scripture  texts  in 
writings  crowded  with  Scripture  texts.  He  says 
he  will  agree  with  the  Fathers  so  long  as  they 
keep  close  to  Holy  Scripture.  Does  he  mean  what 
he  says?  I  will  see  then  that  there  come  forth, 


Ii8  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

armed  and  begirt  with  Christ,  with  Prophets  and 
Apostles,  and  with  all  array  of  Biblical  erudition, 
those  celebrated  authors,  those  ancient  Fathers, 
those  holy  men,  Dionyius,  Cyprian,  Athanasius, 
Basil,  Nazianzen,  Ambrose,  Jerome,  Chrysostom, 
Augustine,  and  the  Latin  Gregory.  Let  that  faith 
reign  in  England,  Oh  that  it  may  reign !  which 
these  Fathers,  dear  lovers  of  the  Scriptures,  build 
up  out  of  the  Scriptures.  The  texts  that  they  bring, 
we  will  bring:  the  texts  they  confer,  we  will  con 
fer:  what  they  infer,  we  will  infer.  Are  you 
agreed?  Out  with  it  and  say  so,  please.  Not  a 
bit  of  it,  he  says,  unless  they  expound  rightly. 
.What  is  this  "  rightly  "?  At  your  discretion.  Are 
you  not  ashamed  of  the  vicious  circle? 

Hopeful  as  I  am  that  in  flourishing  Universities 
there  will  be  gathered  together  a  good  number, 
who  will  be  no  dull  spectators,  but  acute  judges 
of  these  controversies  and  who  will  weigh  for  what 
they  are  worth  the  frivolous  answers  of  our  adver 
saries,  I  will  gladly  await  this  meeting-day,  as  one 
minded  to  lead  forth  against  wooded  hillocks  [cf . 
Cicero  in  Catilinam  ii.  11],  covered  with  unarmed 
tramps,  the  nobility  and  strength  of  the  Church  of 
Christ. 

SEVENTH  REASON 

HISTORY 

Ancient  History  unveils  the  primitive  face  of  the 
Church.  To  this  I  appeal.  Certainly,  the  more 
ancient  historians,  whom  our  adversaries  also 
habitually  consult,  are  enumerated  pretty  well  as 


TEN    REASONS  11$ 

follows:  Eusebius,  Damasus,  Jerome,  Rufinus, 
Orosius,  Socrates,  Sozomen,  Theodoret,  Cassiodor- 
us,  Gregory  of  Tours,  Usuard,  Regino,  Marianus, 
Sigebert,  Zonaras,  Cedrinus,  Nicephorus.  What 
have  they  to  tell?  The  praises  of  our  religion,  its 
progress,  vicissitudes,  enemies.  Nay,  and  this  is 
a  point  I  would  have  you  observe  diligently,  they 
who  in  deadly  hatred  dissent  from  us, — Melanc- 
thon,  Pantaleon,  Funck,  the  Centuriators  of  Magde 
burg, — on  applying  themselves  to  write  either  the 
chronology  or  the  history  of  the  Church,  if  they 
did  not  get  together  the  exploits  of  our  heroes, 
and  heap  up  the  accounts  of  the  frauds  and  crimes 
of  the  enemies  of  our  Church,  would  pass  by  fif 
teen  hundred  years  with  no  story  to  tell. 

Along  with  the  above-mentioned  consider  the 
local  historians,  who  have  searched  with  laborious 
curiosity  into  the  transactions  of  some  one  particu 
lar  nation.  These  men,  wishing  by  all  means  to 
enrich  and  adorn  the  Sparta  which  they  had  gotten 
for  their  own,  and  to  that  effect  not  passing  over 
in  silence  even  such  things  as  banquets  of  unusual 
splendour,  or  sleeved  tunics,  or  hilts  of  daggers, 
or  gilt  spurs,  and  other  such  minutiae  having  any 
smack  of  revelry  about  them,  surely,  if  they  had 
heard  of  any  change  in  religion,  or  any  falling  off 
from  the  standard  of  early  ages,  would  have  re 
lated  it,  many  of  them;  or,  if  not  many,  at  least 
several;  if  not  several,  some  one  anyhow.  Not 
one,  well-disposed  or  ill-disposed  towards  us,  has 
related  anything  of  the  sort,  or  even  dropped  the 
slightest  hint  of  the  same. 


rso  EDMUND   CAMPION'S 

For  example.  Our  adversaries  grant  us, — they 
cannot  do  otherwise, — that  the  Roman  Church  was 
at  one  time  holy,  Catholic,  Apostolic,  at  the 
time  when  it  deserved  these  eulogiums  from  St. 
Paul :  Your  faith  is  spoken  of  in  the  whole  world. 
Without  ceasing  1  make  a  commemoration  of  you. 
I  know  that  when  I  come  to  you,  I  shall  come  in 
the  abundance  of  the  blessing  of  Christ.  All  the 
Churches  of  Christ  salute  you.  Your  obedience  is 
published  in  every  place  (Rom.  i.  8,  9;  xv.  29; 
xvi.  17,  19):  at  the  time  when  Paul,  being  kept 
there  in  free  custody,  was  spreading  the  gospel 
(Acts  xxviii.  31):  at  the  time  when  Peter  once 
in  that  city  was  ruling  the  Church  gathered  at 
Babylon  (i  Peter  v.  13):  at  the  time  when  that 
Clement,  so  singularly  praised  by  the  Apostle 
(Phil.  iv.  3)  was  governing  the  Church:  at  the 
time  when  the  pagan  Caesars,  Nero,  Domitian, 
Trajan,  Antoninus,  were  butchering  the  Roman 
Pontiffs:  also  at  the  time  when,  as  even  Calvin 
bears  witness,  Damasus,  Siricius,  Anastasius  and 
Innocent  guided  the  Apostolic  bark.  For  at  this 
epoch  he  generously  allows  that  men,  at  Rome  par 
ticularly,  had  so  far  not  swerved  from  Gospel 
teaching.  When  then  did  Rome  lose  this  faith 
so  highly  celebrated?  when  did  she  cease  to  be 
what  she  was  before?  at  what  time,  under  what 
Pontiff,  by  what  way,  by  what  compulsion,  by  what 
increments,  did  a  foreign  religion  come  to  pervade 
city  and  world?  What  outcries,  what  disturbances, 
what  lamentations  did  it  provoke?  Were  all  man 
kind  all  over  the  rest  of  the  world  lulled  to  sleep, 


TEN    REASONS  121 

while  Rome,  Rome  I  say,  was  forging  new  Sacra 
ments,  a  new  Sacrifice,  new  religious  dogma?  Has 
there  been  found  no  historian,  neither  Greek  nor 
Latin,  neither  far  nor  near,  to  fling  out  in  his  chro 
nicles  even  an  obscure  hint  of  so  remarkable  a 
proceeding? 

Therefore  this  much  is  clear,  that  the  articles 
of  our  belief  are  what  History,  manifold  and 
various,  History  the  messenger  of  antiquity,  and 
life  of  memory,  utters  and  repeats  in  abundance; 
while  no  narrative  penned  in  human  times  records 
that  the  doctrines  foisted  in  by  our  opponents  ever 
had  any  footing  in  the  Church.  It  is  clear,  I  say, 
that  the  historians  are  mine,  and  that  the  adver 
sary's  raids  upon  history  are  utterly  without  point. 
No  impression  can  they  make  unless  the  assertion 
be  first  received,  that  all  Christians  of  all  ages  had 
lapsed  into  gross  infidelity  and  gone  down  to  the 
abyss  of  hell,  until  such  time  as  Luther  entered 
into  an  unblessed  union  with  Catherine  Bora. 

EIGHTH  REASON 

PARADOXES 

For  myself,  most  excellent  Sirs,  when,  choosing 
out  of  many  heresies,  I  think  over  in  my  mind 
certain  portentous  errors  of  self-opinionated  men., 
errors  that  it  will  be  incumbent  on  me  to  refute, 
I  should  condemn  myself  of  want  of  spirit  and 
discernment  if  in  this  trial  of  strength  I  were  to 
be  afraid  of  any  man's  ability  or  powers.  Let 
him  be  able,  let  him  be  eloquent,  let  him  be  a  prac- 


122  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

tised  disputant,  let  him  be  a  devourer  of  all  books, 
still  his  thought  must  dry  up  and  his  utterance  fail 
him  when  he  shall  have  to  maintain  such  impossible 
positions  as  these.  For  we  shall  dispute,  if  per 
chance  they  will  allow  us,  on  God,  on  Christ,  on 
Man,  on  Sin,  on  Justice,  on  Sacraments,  on  Morals. 
I  shall  see  whether  they  will  dare  to  speak  out 
what  they  think,  and  what  under  the  constraint 
of  their  situation  they  publish  in  their  miserable 
writings.  I  will  take  care  that  they  know  these 
maxims  of  their  teachers :—  "  God  is  the  author  and 
cause  of  evil,  willing  it,  suggesting  it,  effecting 
it,  commanding  it,  working  it  out,  and  guiding  the 
guilty  counsels  of  the  wicked  to  this  end.  As  the 
call  of  Paul,  so  the  adultery  of  David,  and  the 
wickedness  of  the  traitor  Judas,  was  God's  own 
work"  (Calvin,  Institut.  i.  18;  ii.  4;  iii.  23,  24). 
This  monstrous  doctrine,  of  which  Philip  Melanch- 
thon  was  for  once  ashamed,  Luther  however,  of 
whom  Philip  had  learned  it,  extols  as  an  oracle 
from  heaven  with  wonderful  praises,  and  on  that 
score  puts  his  foster-child  all  but  on  an  equality 
with  the  Apostle  Paul  (Luther,  De  servo  arbitrio}. 
I  will  also  enquire  what  was  in  Luther's  mind, 
whom  the  English  Calvinists  pronounce  to  be  "a 
man  given  of  God  for  the  enlightenment  of  the 
world,"  when  he  wished  to  take  this  versicle  out  of 
the  Church's  prayers,  "  Holy  Trinity,  one  God,  have 
mercy  on  us." 

I  will  proceed  to  the  person  of  Christ.  I  will 
ask  what  these  words,  "  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  God 
of  God,"  mean  to  Calvin,  who  says,  "  God  of  Him- 


TEN    REASONS  123 

self  "  (Instil,  i.  13) ;  or  to  Beza,  who  says,  "  He 
is  not  begotten  of  the  essence  of  the  Father  "  (Beza 
in  Josue,  nn.  23,  24).  Again.  Let  there  be  set 
up  two  hypostate  unions  in  Christ,  one  of  His  soul 
with  His  flesh,  the  other  of  His  Divinity  with  His 
Humanity  (Beza,  Contra  Schmidel).  The  passage 
in  John  x.  30,  I  and  the  Father  are  one,  does  not 
show  Christ  to  be  God,  consubstantial  with  God  the 
Father  (Calvin  on  John  x.),  the  fact  is,  says  Luther,  \ 
"  my  soul^ hates  this  word,  homousion"  Go  on. 
Christ  wasliot  perfect  in  grace  FrorrTHis  infancy, 
but  grew  in  gifts  of  the  soul  like  other  men,  and 
by  experience  daily  became  wiser,  so  that  as  a  little 
child  He  laboured  under  ignorance  (Melanchthon 
on  the  gospel  for  first  Sunday  after  Epiphany). 
Which  is  as  much  as  to  say  that  He  was  defiled 
with  the  stain  and  vice  of  original  sin.  But  observe 
still  more  direful  utterances.  When  Christ,  pray 
ing  in  the  Garden,  was  streaming  with  a  sweat  of 
water  and  blood,  He  shuddered  under  a  sense  of 
eternal  damnation,  He  uttered  an  irrational  cry, 
an  unspiritual  cry,  a  sudden  cry  prompted  by  the 
force  of  His  distress,  which  He  quickly  checked 
as  not  sufficiently  premeditated  (Marlorati  in 
Matth.  xxvi. ;  Calvin  in  Harm.  Evangel.}.  Is  there 
anything  further?  Attend.  When  Christ  Cruci 
fied  exclaimed,  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  Thou 
forsaken  me,  He  was  on  fire  with  the  flames  of  y 
hell,  He  uttered  a  cry  of  despair,  He  felt  exactly 
as  if  nothing  were  before  Him  but  to  perish  in 
everlasting  death  (Calvin  in  Harm.  Evangel.'].  To 
this  also  let  them  add  something,  if  they  can. 


124  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

Christ,  they  say,  descended  into  hell,  that  is,  when 
dead,  He  tasted  hell  not  otherwise  than  do  the 
damned  souls,  except  that  He  was  destined  to  be 
restored  to  Himself:  for  since  by  His  mere  bodily 
death  He  would  have  profited  us  nothing,  He 
needed  in  soul  also  to  struggle  with  everlasting 
death,  and  in  this  way  to  pay  the  debt  of  our 
crime  and  our  punishment.  And  lest  any  one  might 
haply  suspect  that  this  theory  had  stolen  upon  Cal 
vin  unawares,  the  same  Calvin  calls  all  of  you  who 
have  repelled  this  doctrine,  full  as  it  is  of  comfort, 
God-forsaken  boobies  (Institut.  ii.  16).  Times, 
times,  what  a  monster  you  have  reared!  That 
delicate  and  royal  Blood,  which  ran  in  a  flood  from 
the  lacerated  and  torn  Body  of  the  innocent  Lamb, 
one  little  drop  of  which  Blood,  for  the  dignity  of 
the  Victim,  might  have  redeemed  a  thousand 
worlds,  availed  the  human  race  nothing,  unless  the 
mediator  of  God  and  men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus 
(i  Tim.  ii.  5)  had  borne  also  the  second  death 
(Apoc.  xx.  6),  the  death  of  the  soul,  the  death 
to  grace,  that  accompaniment  only  of  sin  and  dam 
nable  blasphemy!  In  comparison  with  this  in 
sanity,  Bucer,  impudent  fellow  that  he  is,  will  ap 
pear  modest,  for  he  (on  Matth.  xxvi.),  by  an  ex 
planation  very  preposterous,  or  rather,  an  inept  and 
stupid  tautology,  takes  hell  in  the  creed  to  mean 
the  tomb.  Of  the  Anglican  sectaries,  some  are 
wont  to  adhere  to  their  idol,  Calvin,  others  to  their 
great  master,  Bucer;  some  also  murmur  in  an  un 
dertone  against  this  article,  wishing  that  it  may 
be  quietly  removed  altogether  from  the  Creed,  that 


TEN    REASONS  125 

it  may  give  no  more  trouble.  Nay,  this  was  ac 
tually  tried  in  a  meeting  at  London,  as  I  remember 
being  told  by  one  who  was  present,  Richard  Cheyne, 
a  miserable  old  man,  who  was  badly  mauled  by 
robbers  outside,  and,  for  all  that,  never  entered 
his  father's  house.1 

And  thus  far  of  Christ.  What  of  Man?  The 
image  of  God  is  utterly  blotted  out  in  man,  not 
the  slightest  spark  of  good  is  left:  his  whole 
nature  in  all  the  parts  of  his  soul  is  so  thoroughly 
overturned  that,  even  after  he  is  born  again  and 
sanctified  in  baptism,  there  is  nothing  whatever 
within  him  but  mere  corruption  and  contagion. 
What  does  this  lead  up  to?  That  they  who  mean  to 
seize  glory  by  faith  alone  may  wallow  in  the  filth 
of  every  turpitude,  may  accuse  nature,  despair  of 
virtue,  and  discharge  themselves  of  the  command 
ments  (Calvin,  Instit.  ii.  3).  To  this,  Illyricus,  the 
standard-bearer  of  the  Magdeburg  company,  has 
added  his  own  monstrous  teaching  about  original 
sin,  which  he  makes  out  to  be  the  innermost  sub 
stance  of  souls,  whom,  since  Adam's  fall,  the  devil 
himself  engenders  and  transforms  into  himself.  This 
also  is  a  received  maxim  in  this  scum  of  evil  doc 
trine,  that  all  sins  are  equal,  yet  with  this  qualifica 
tion  (not  to  revive  the  Stoics),  "  if  sins  are  weighed 
in  the  judgment  of  God."  As  if  God,  the  most 
equitable  Judge,  were  to  add  to  our  burden  rather 
than  lighten  it;  and,  for  all  His  justice,  were  to 

1  Richard  Cheyne,  Anglican  bishop  of  Gloucester,  to  whom 
there  is  extant  a  letter  from  Campion,  dated  I  November, 


126  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

exaggerate  and  make  it  what  it  is  not  in  itself.  By 
this  estimation,  as  heavy  an  offence  would  be  com 
mitted  against  God,  judging  in  all  severity,  by  the 
innkeeper  who  has  killed  a  barn-door  cock,  when 
he  should  not  have  done,  as  by  that  infamous  as 
sassin  who,  his  head  full  of  Beza,  stealthily  slew  by 
the  shot  of  a  musket  the  French  hero,  the  Duke, 
of  Guise,  a  Prince  of  admirable  virtue,  than  which 
crime  our  world  has  seen  in  our  age  nothing  more 
deadly,  nothing  more  lamentable. 

But  perchance  they  who  are  so  severe  in  the 
matter  of  sin  philosophise  magnificently  on  divine 
grace,  as  able  to  bring  succour  and  remedy  to  this 
evil.  Fine  indeed  is  the  function  which  they  assign 
to  grace,  which  their  ranting  preachers  say  is 
neither  infused  into  our  hearts,  nor  strong  enough 
to  resist  sin,  but  lies  wholly  outside  of  us,  and 
consists  in  the  mere  favour  of  God, — a  favour  which 
does  not  amend  the  wicked,  nor  cleanse,  nor  illu 
minate,  nor  enrich  them,  but,  leaving  still  the  old 
stinking  ordure  of  their  sin,  dissembles  it  by  God's 
connivance,  that  it  be  not  counted  unsightly  and 
hateful.  And  with  this  their  invention  they  are 
so  delighted  that,  with  them,  even  Christ  is  not 
otherwise  called  full  of  grace  and  truth  than  inas 
much  as  God  the  Father  has  borne  wonderful 
favour  to  Him  (Bucer  on  John  i. :  Brent  horn.  12 
on  John). 

What  sort  of  thing  then  is  righteousness?  A 
relation.  It  is  not  made  up  of  faith,  hope  and 
charity,  vesting  the  soul  in  their  splendour;  it  is 
only  a  hiding  away  of  guilt,  such  that,  whoever 


TEN    REASONS  127 

has  seized  upon  this  righteousness  by  faith  alone, 
he  is  as  sure  of  salvation  as  though  he  were  already 
enjoying  the  unending  joy  of  heaven.  Well,  let 
this  dream  pass :  but  how  can  one  be  sure  of  future 
perseverance,  in  the  absence  of  which  a  man's  exit 
would  be  most  miserable,  though  for  a  time  he  had 
observed  righteousness  purely  and  piously?  Nay, 
says  Calvin  (Instil,  iii.  2),  unless  this  your  faith 
foretells  you  your  perseverance  assuredly,  without 
possibility  of  hallucination,  it  must  be  cast  aside 
as  vain  and  feeble.  I  recognise  the  disciple  of 
Luther.  A  Christian,  said  Luther  (De  captivitate 
Babylonis},  cannot  lose  his  salvation,  even  if  he 
wanted,  except  by  refusing  to  believe. 

I  hasten  to  pass  on  to  the  Sacraments.  None, 
none,  not  two,  not  one,  O  holy  Christ,  have  they 
left.  Their  bread  is  poison;  and  as  for  their 
baptism,  though  it  is  still  true  baptism,  never 
theless  in  their  judgment  it  is  nothing,  it  is 
not  a  wave  of  salvation,  it  is  not  a  channel  of 
grace,  it  does  not  apply  to  us  the  merits  of  Christ, 
it  is  a  mere  token  of  salvation  (Calvin,  Instit.  iv. 
15).  Thus  they  have  made  no  more  of  the  bap 
tism  of  Christ,  so  far  as  the  nature  of  the  thing 
goes,  than  of  the  ceremony  of  John.  If  you  have 
it,  it  is  well;  if  you  go  without  it,  there  is  no 
loss  suffered;  believe,  you  are  saved,  before  you 
are  washed.  What  then  of  infants,  who,  unless 
they  are  aided  by  the  virtue  of  the  Sacrament, 
poor  little  things,  gain  nothing  by  any  faith  of 
their  own?  Rather  than  allow  anything  to  the  Sac 
rament  of  baptism,  say  the  Magdeburg  Centuria- 


128  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

tors  (Cent.  v.  4),  let  us  grant  that  there  is  faith 
in  the  infants  themselves,  enough  to  save  them; 
and  that  the  said  babies  are  aware  of  certain  secret 
stirrings  of  this  faith,  albeit  they  are  not  yet  aware 
whether  they  are  alive  or  not.  A  hard  nut  to  crack  I 
If  this  is  so  very  hard,  listen  to  Luther's  remedy. 
It  is  better,  he  says  (Advers^  Cochl.'))  to  omit  the 
baptism;  since,  unless  the  infant  believes,  to  no 
purpose  is  it  washed.  This  is  what  they  say,  doubt 
ful  in  mind  what  absolutely  to  affirm.  Therefore 
let  Balthasar  Pacimontanus  step  in  to  sort  the  votes. 
This  father  of  the  Anabaptists,  unable  to  assign 
to  infants  any  stirring  of  faith,  approved  Luther's 
suggestion ;  and,  casting  infant  baptism  out  of  the 
churches,  resolved  to  wash  at  the  sacred  font  none 
who  was  not  grown  up.  For  the  rest  of  the  Sacra 
ments,  though  that  many  headed  beast  utters  many 
insults,  yet,  seeing  that  they  are  now  of  daily  occur 
rence,  and  our  ears  have  grown  callous  to  themy 
I  here  pass  them  over. 

There  remain  the  sayings  of  the  heretics  con 
cerning  life  and  morals,  the  noxious  goblets  which 
Luther  has  vomited  on  his  pages,  that  out  of  the 
filthy  hovel  of  his  one  breast  he  might  breathe 
pestilence  upon  his  readers.  Listen  patiently,  and 
blush,  and  pardon  me  the  recital.  If  the  wife  will 
not,  or  cannot,  let  the  handmaid  come  (Serm.  de 
matrimon.};  seeing  that  commerce  with  a  wife  is 
as  necessary  to  every  man  as  food,  drink,  and  sleep. 
Matrimony  is  much  more  excellent  than  virginity. 
Christ  and  Paul  dissuaded  men  from  virginity 
(Liber  de  vol.  evangel.).  But  perhaps  these  doc- 


TEN    REASONS  129 

trines  are  peculiar  to  Luther.  They  are  not.  They 
have  been  lately  defended  by  my  friend  Chark, 
but  miserably  and  timidly.  Do  you  wish  to  hear 
any  more?  Certainly.  The  more  wicked  you  are, 
he  says,  the  nearer  you  are  to  grace  (Serm.  d& 
pise.  Petrt].  All  good  actions  are  sins,  in  God's 
judgment,  mortal  sins ;  in  God's  mercy,  venial.  No 
one  thinks  evil  of  his  own  will.  The  Ten  Com 
mandments  are  nothing  to  Christians.  God  cares 
nought  at  all  about  our  works.  They  alone  rightly 
partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  who  bury  consciences 
sad,  afflicted,  troubled,  confused,  erring.  Sins  are 
to  be  confessed,  but  to  anyone  you  like;  and  if 
he  absolves  you  even  in  joke,  provided  you  believe, 
you  are  absolved.  To  read  the  Hours  of  the  Divine 
Office  is  not  the  function  of  priests,  but  of  laymen. 
Christians  are  free  from  the  enactments  of  men 
(Luther,  De  servo  arbitrio,  De  captivitate  Baby 
lon). 

I  think  I  have  stirred  up  this  puddle  sufficiently. 
I  now  finish.  Nor  must  you  think  me  unfair  for 
having  turned  my  argument  against  Lutherans  and 
Zwinglians  indiscriminately.  For,  remembering 
their  common  parentage,  they  wish  to  be  brothers 
and  friends  to  one  another;  and  they  take  it  as  a, 
grave  affront,  whenever  any  distinction  is  drawn 
between  them  in  any  point  but  one.  I  am  not  of 
consequence  enough  to  claim  for  myself  so  much 
as  an  undistinguished  place  among  the  select  theo 
logians  who  at  this  day  have  declared  war  on  here 
sies:  but  this  I  know,  that,  puny  as  I  am,  I  run* 
no  risk  while,  supported  by  the  grace  of  Christ, 

J 


130  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

!  I  shall  do  battle,  with  the  aid  of  heaven  and  earth, 
against  such  fabrications  as  these,  so  odious,  so 
tasteless,  so  stupid. 

NINTH  REASON 
SOPHISMS 

It  is  a  shrewd  saying  that  a  one-eyed  man  may 
be  king  among  the  blind.  With  uneducated  people 
a  mock- proof  has  force  which  a  school  of  philo 
sophers  dismisses  with  scorn.  Many  are  the 
offences  of  the  adversary  under  this  head;  but  his 
case  is  made  out  by  four  fallacies  chiefly,  fallacies 
which  I  would  rather  unravel  in  the  University  than 
in  a  popular  audience. 

The  first  vice  is  <r/aa//,a%ta,  with  mighty  effort 
hammering  at  breezes  and  shadows.  In  this  way: 
against  such  as  have  sworn  to  celibacy  and  vowed 
chastity,  because,  while  marriage  is  good,  virginity 
is  better  (i  Cor.  vii.),  Scripture  texts  are  brought 
up  speaking  honourably  of  marriage.  Whom  do 
they  hit?  Against  the  merit  of  a  Christian  man, 
a  merit  dyed  in  the  Blood  of  Christ,  otherwise 
null,  testimonies  are  alleged  whereby  we  are  bidden 
to  put  our  trust  neither  in  nature  nor  in  the  law,  but 
in  the  Blood  of  Christ.  Whom  do  they  refute? 
Against  those  who  worship  Saints,  as  Christ's  ser 
vants,  especially  acceptable  to  Him,  whole  pages 
are  quoted,  forbidding  the  worship  of  many  gods? 
Where  are  these  many  gods?  By  such  arguments, 
which  I  find  in  endless  quantity  in  the  writings 
of  heretics,  they  cannot  hurt  us,  they  may  bore  you. 


TEN    REASONS  131 

Another  vice  is  Xoyo/ia^a,  which  leaves  the 
sense,  and  wrangles  loquaciously  over  the  word. 
Find  me  Mass  or  Purgatory  in  the  Scriptures,  they 
say.  What  then?  Trinity,  Consubstantial,  Person, 
are  they  nowhere  in  the  Bible,  because  these  words 
are  not  found?  Allied  to  this  fault  is  the  catching 
at  letters,  when,  to  the  neglect  of  usage  and  the 
mind  of  the  speakers,  war  is  waged  on  the  letters 
of  the  alphabet.  For  instance,  thus  they  say:  Pres 
byter  to  the  Greeks  means  nothing  else  than  elder; 
Sacrament,  any  mystery.  On  this,  as  on  all  other 
points,  St.  Thomas  shrewdly  observes:  "  In  words,'  j 
we  must  look  not  whence  they  are  derived,  but  to  j 
what  meaning  they  are  put." 

The  third  vice  is  o/Aoiiw/u'a,  which  has  a  very 
wide  range.  For  example:  What  is  the  meaning 
of  an  Order  of  Priests,  when  John  has  called  us 
all  priests'!  <(Apoc.  v.  10).  He  has  also  added 
this:  we  shall  reign  upon  the  earth.  What  then  is 
the  use  of  Kings?  Again:  the  Prophet  (Isaias 
Iviii.)  cries  \up  a  spiritual  fast,  that  is,  abstinence 
from  inveterate  crimes.  Farewell  then  to  any  dis 
cernment  of  meats  and  prescription  of  days.  In 
deed?  Mad  therefore  were  Moses,  David,  Elias, 
the  Baptist,  the  Apostles,  who  terminated  their 
fasts  in  two  days,  three  days,  or  in  so  many  weeks, 
which  fasting,  being  from  sin,  ought  to  have  been 
perpetual.  You  have  already  seen  what  manner 
of  argument  this  is.  I  hasten  on. 

Added  to  the  above  is  a  fourth  vice,  Vicious 
Circle,  in  this  way.  Give  me  the  notes,  I  say, 
of  the  Church.  The  word  of  God  and  unde  filed 


132  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

Sacraments.  Are  these  with  you?  Who  can  doubt 
it?  I  do,  I  deny  it  utterly.  Consult  the  word  of 
God.  I  have  consulted  it,  and  I  favour  you  less 
than  before.  Ah,  but  it  is  plain.  Prove  it  to  me. 
Because  we  do  not  depart  a  nail's  breadth  from  the 
word  of  God.  Where  is  your  persecution?  Will 
you  always  go  on  taking  for  an  argument  the  very 
point  that  is  called  in  question?  How  often  have 
I  insisted  on  this  already?  Do  wake  up:  do  you 
want  torches  applied  to  you?  I  say  that  your  ex 
position  of  the  word  of  God  is  perverse  and  mis 
taken  :  I  have  fifteen  centuries  to  bear  me  witness : 
stand  by  an  opinion,  not  mine,  nor  yours,  but  that 
of  all  these  ages.  /  will  stand  by  the  sentence  of 
the  word  of  God :  the  Spirit  breatheth  where  it  will 
(John  iii.  8).  There  he  is  at  it  again;  what  cir 
cumvolutions,  what  wheels  he  is  making  1  This 
trifler,  this  arch-contriver  of  words  and  sophisms, 
I  know  not  to  whom  he  can  be  formidable:  tire 
some  he  possibly  will  be.  His  tiresomeness  will 
find  its  corrective  in  your  sagacity:  all  that  was 
formidable  about  him  facts  have  taken  away. 

TENTH  REASON 

ALL  MANNER  OF  WITNESS 

This  shall  be  to  you  a  straight  way,  so  that  fools 
shall  not  go  astray  in  it  (Isaias  xxxv.  8). 

Who  is  there,  however  small  and  lost  in  the 
crowd  of  illiterates,  that,  with  a  desire  of  salvation 
and  some  little  attention,  cannot  see,  cannot  keep 
to  the  path  of  the  Church,  so  admirably  smoothed 
out,  eschewing  brambles  and  rocks  and  pathless 


TEN    REASONS  133 

t 

wastes !  For,  as  Isaias  prophesies,  this  path  shall 
be  plain  even  to  the  uneducated;  most  plain  there 
fore,  if  you  choose,  to  you.  Let  us  put  before  our 
eyes  the  theatre  of  the  universe :  let  us  wander 
everywhere :  all  things  supply  us  with  an  argument. 
Let  us  go  to  heaven:  let  us  contemplate  roses  and 
lilies,  Saints  empurpled  with  martyrdom  or  white 
with  innocence:  Roman  Pontiffs,  I  say,  three  and 
thirty  in  a  continuous  line  put  to  death:  Pastors 
all  the  world  over,  who  have  pledged  their  blood 
for  the  name  of  Christ:  Flocks  of  faithful,  who 
have  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  their  Pastors: 
all  the  Saints  of  heaven,  who  as  shining  lights  in 
purity  and  holiness  have  gone  before  the  crowd  of 
mankind.  You  will  find  that  these  were  ours  when 
they  lived  on  earth,  ours  when  they  passed  away 
from  this  world.  To  cull  a  few  instances,  ours  was 
that  Ignatius,  who  in  church  matters  put  no  one 
not  even  the  Emperor,  on  a  level  with  the  Bishop ; 
who  committed  to  writing,  that  they  might  not  be 
lost,  certain  Apostolic  traditions  of  which  he  him 
self  had  been  witness.  Ours  was  that  anchoret 
Telesphorus,  who  ordered  the  more  strict  obser 
vance  of  the  fast  of  Lent  established  by  the 
Apostles.  Ours  was  Irenaeus,  who  declared  the- 
Apostolic  faith  by  the  Roman  succession  and  chair 
(lib.  iii.  cap.  3).  Ours  was  Pope  Victor,  who  by 
an  edict  brought  to  order  the  whole  of  Asia;  and 
though  this  proceeding  seemed  to  some  minds,  and 
even  to  that  holy  man  Irenaeus,  somewhat  harsh, 
yet  no  one  made  light  of  it  as  coming  from  a  for 
eign  power.  Ours  was  Polycarp,  who  went  to  Rome 
on  the  question  of  Easter,  whose  burnt  relics 


134  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

Smyrna  gathered,  and  honoured  her  Bishop  with 
an  anniversary  feast  and  appointed  ceremony. 
Ours  were  Cornelius  and  Cyprian,  a  golden  pair 
of  Martyrs,  both  great  Bishops,  but  greater  he,  the 
Roman,  who  had  rescinded  the  African  error; 
while  the  latter  was  ennobled  by  the  obedience 
which  he  paid  to  the  elder,  his  very  dear  friend. 
Ours  was  Sixtus,  to  whom,  as  he  offered  solemn 
sacrifice  at  the  altar,  seven  men  of  the  clergy 
ministered.  Ours  was  his  Archdeacon  Lawrence, 
whom  the  adversaries  cast  out  of  their  calendar, 
to  whom,  twelve  hundred  years  ago,  the  Consular 
man  Prudentius  thus  prayed: 

What  is  the  power  entrusted  thee, 
And  how  great  function  is  given  thee, 
The  joyful  thanks  of  Roman  citizens  prove, 
To  whom  thou  grantest  their  petitions. 
Among  them,  O  glory  of  Christ, 
Hear  also  a  rustic  poet, 
|       Confessing  the  crimes  of  his  heart 
And  publishing  his  doings. 
Hear  bountifully  the  supplication 
Of  Christ's  culprit  Prudentius. 

Ours  are  those  highly-blest  maids,  Cecily,  Agatha, 
Anastasia,  Barbara,  Agnes,  Lucy,  Dorothy,  Cath 
erine,  who  held  fast  against  the  violent  assault  of 
men  and  devils  the  virginity  they  had  resolved 
upon.  Ours  was  Helen,  celebrated  for  the  finding 
of  the  Lord's  Cross.  Ours  was  Monica,  who 
in  death  most  piously  begged  prayers  and  sacri 
fices  to  be  offered  for  her  at  the  altar  of  Christ. 
Ours  was  Paula,  who,  leaving  her  City  palace  and 
her  rich  estates,  hastened  on  a  long  journey  a  pil- 


TEN    REASONS  135 

grim  to  the  cave  at  Bethlehem,  to  hide  herself  by 
the  cradle  of  the  Infant  Christ.  Ours  were  Paul, 
Hilarion,  Antony,  those  dear  ancient  solitaries. 
Ours  was  Satyrus,  own  brother  to  Ambrose,  who, 
when  shipwrecked,  jumped  into  the  ocean,  carrying 
about  his  neck  in  a  napkin  the  Sacred  Host,  and 
full  of  faith  swam  to  shore  {Ambrose,  Oral.  fun. 
de  Satyro] . 

Ours  are  the  Bishops  Martin  and  Nicholas,  ex 
ercised  in  watchings,  clad  in  the  military  garb  of 
hair  cloths,  fed  with  fasts.  Ours  is  Benedict, 
father  of  so  many  monks.  I  should  not  run 
through  their  thousands  in  ten  years.  But  neither 
do  I  set  down  those  whom  I  mentioned  before 
among  the  Doctors  of  the  Church.  I  am  mindful 
of  the  brevity  imposed  upon  me.  Whoever  wills, 
may  seek  these  further  details,  not  only  from  the 
copious  histories  of  the  ancients,  but  even  much 
more  from  the  grave  authors  who  have  bequeathed 
to  memory  almost  one  man  one  Saint.  Let 
the  reader  report  to  me  his  judgment  concerning 
those  ancient  blessed  Christians,  to  what  doctrine 
they  adhered,  the  Catholic  or  the  Lutheran.  I  call 
to  witness  the  throne  of  God,  and  that  Tribunal  at 
which  I  shall  stand  to  render  reason  for  these 
Reasons,  of  everything  I  have  said  and  done,  that 
either  there  is  no  heaven  at  all,  or  heaven  belongs 
to  our  people.  The  former  position  we  abhor,  we 
fix  therefore  upon  the  latter. 

low  contrariwise,  if  you  please,  let  us  look  into 
hell.  There  are  burnt  with  everlasting  fire,  who? 
The  Jews.  On  what  Church  have  they  turned  their 
backs?  On  ours.  Who  again?  The  heathen. 


136  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

What  Church  have  they  most  cruelly  persecuted? 
Ours.  Who  again?  The  Turks.  What  temples 
have  they  destroyed?  Ours.  Who  once  more? 
Heretics.  Against  what  Church  are  they  in  rebel 
lion?  Against  ours.  What  Church  but  ours  has 
opposed  itself  against  all  the  gates  of  hell?  When, 
after  the  driving  away  of  the  Hebrews,  Christian 
inhabitants  began  to  multiply  at  Jerusalem,  what 
a  concourse  of  men  there  was  to  the  Holy  Places, 
what  veneration  attached  to  the  City,  to  the 
Sepulchre,  to  the  Manger,  to  the  Cross,  to  all  the 
memorials  in  which  the  Church  delights  as  a  wife 
in  what  has  been  worn  by  her  husband.  Hence 
arose  against  us  the  hatred  of  the  Jews,  cruel  and 
implacable.  Even  now  they  complain  that  our  an 
cestors  were  the  ruin  of  their  ancestors.  From 
Simon  Magus  and  the  Lutherans  they  have  received 
no  wound.  Among  the  heathen,  they  were  the  most 
violent  who,  throughout  the  Roman  Empire,  for 
three  hundred  years,  at  intervals  of  time,  contrived 
most  painful  punishments  for  Christians.  What 
Christians?  The  fathers  and  children  of  our  faith. 
Learn  the  language  of  the  tyrant  who  roasted  St. 
Lawrence  on  the  gridiron: 

That  this  is  of  your  rites 
The  custom  and  practice,  it  has  been  handed 

down  to  memory : 

This  the  discipline  of  the  institution, 
That  priests  pour  libations  from  golden  cups. 

In  silver  goblets  they  say 
That  the  sacred  blood  smokes; 
And  that  in  golden  candlestick,  at  the  nightly 

sacrifices, 
There  stand  fixed  waxen  candles. 


TEN    REASONS  137 

Then  is  it  the  chief  care  of  the  brethren, 
As  many-tongued  report  does  testify, 
To  offer  from  the  sale  of  estates, 
Thousands  of  pence. 

Ancestral  property  made  over 
To  dishonest  auctions, 
The  disinherited  successor  groans, 
Needy  child  of  holy  parents. 

These  treasures  are  concealed  in  secret, 
In  corners  of  the  churches ; 
And  it  is  believed  the  height  of  piety 
To  strip  your  sweet  children. 

Bring  out  your  treasures, 
Which  by  evil  arts  of  persuasion 
You  have  heaped  up  and  hold, 
Which  you  shut  up  in  darkling  cave. 

Public   utility  demands  this, 
The  privy  purse  demands  it,  the  treasury  de 
mands  it, 

That  the  soldiers  may  be  paid  for  their  services, 
And  the  commander  may  benefit  thereby. 

This  is  your  dogma,   then : 
Give  every  man  his  own. 
Now  Caesar  recognises  his  own 
Image,  stamped  on  the  coin. 

What  you  know  to  be  Caesar's,  to  Caesar 
Give;  surely  what  I  ask  is  just. 
If  I  am  not  mistaken,  your  Deity 
Coins  no  money, 

Nor  when  he  came  did  he  bring 
Golden  Jacobuses1  with  him; 

But  he  gave  his  precepts  in  words, 
Empty  in  point  of  pocket. 

Fulfil  the  promise  of  the  words 
Which  you  sell  the  round  world  over. 
Give  up  your  hard  cash  willingly, 
Be  rich  in  words. 

(Prudentius,  Hymn  on  St.  Lawrence). 
1  The  Latin  is  Philippos. 


138  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

Whom  does  this  speaker  resemble.  Against 
whom  does  he  rage?  What  Church  is  it  whose 
sacred  vessels,  lamps,  and  ornaments  he  is  pillag 
ing,  whose  ritual  he  overthrows?  Whose  golden 
patens  and  silver  chalices,  sumptuous  votive  offer 
ings  and  rich  treasure,  does  he  envy?  Why,  the 
man  is  a  Lutheran  all  over.  With  what  other  cloak 
did  our  Nimrods1  cover  their  brigandage,  when 
they  embezzled  the  money  of  their  Churches 
and  wasted  the  patrimony  of  Christ?  Take  on  the 
contrary  Constantine  the  Great,  that  scourge  of  the 
persecutors  of  Christ,  to  what  Church  did  he 
restore  tranquillity?  To  that  Church  over  which 
Pope  Silvester  presided,  whom  he  summoned  from 
his  hiding-place  on  Mount  Soracte  that  by  his 
ministry  he  might  receive  our  baptism.  Under 
what  auspices  was  he  victorious?  Under  the  sign 
of  the  cross.  Of  what  mother  was  he  the  glorious 
son?  Of  Helen.  To  what  Fathers  did  he  attach 
himself?  To  the  Fathers  of  Nice.  What  manner 
of  men  were  they?  Such  men  as  Silvester,  Mark, 
Julius,  Athanasius,  Nicholas.  What  seat  did  he 
ask  for  in  the  Synod?  The  last.  Oh  how  much 
more  kingly  was  he  on  that  seat  than  the  Kings 
who  have  ambitioned  a  title  not  due  to  them !  It 
would  be  tedious  to  go  into  further  details.  But 
from  these  two  [Emperors,  Decius  and  Constantine], 
the  one  our  deadly  enemy,  the  other  our  warm 
friend,  it  may  be  left  to  the  reader's  conjecture 

1  Seems  to  refer  to  the  first  Protestant  bishops,  mighty 
hunters  (Genesis  x.  9)  after  place,  and:,  to  secure  it,  all 
too  ready  to  alienate  the  manors  and  possessions  of  their  see. 


TEN    REASONS  139 

to  fix  on  points  of  closest  resemblance  to  the  one 
and  to  the  other  in  the  history  of  our  own  times « 
For  as  it  was  our  cause  that  went  through  its  agony 
under  Decius,  so  our  cause  it  was  that  came  out 
^triumphant  under  Constantine.1 
V,Let  us  look  at  the  doings  of  the  Turks.  Ma 
homet  and  the  apostate  monk  Sergius  lie  in  the 
deep  abyss,  howling,  laden  with  their  own  crimes 
and  with  those  of  their  posterity.  This  portentous 
and  savage  monster,  the  power  of  the  Saracens  and 
the  Turks,  had  it  not  been  clipped  and  checked 
by  our  Military  Orders,  our  Princes  and  Peoples, — 
so  far  as  Luther  was  concerned  (to  whom  Solyman 
the  Turk  is  said  to  have  written  a  letter  of  thanks 
on  this  account),  and  so  far  as  the  Lutheran  Princes 
were  concerned  (by  whom  the  progress  of  the 
Turks  is  reckoned  matter  of  joy), — this  frantic  and 
man- destroying  Fury,  I  say,  by  this  time  would  be 
depopulating  and  devastating  all  Europe,  overturn 
ing  altars  and  signs  of  the  cross  as  zealously  as  Cal 
vin  himself.  Ours  therefore  they  are,  our  proper 
foes,  seeing  that  by  the  industry  of  our  champions 
it  was  that  their  fangs  were  unfastened  from  the 
throats  of  Christians. 

Let  us  look  down  on  heretics,  the  filth  and  fans 

1  I  have  here  paraphrased,  as  any  literal  translation  would 
have  been  hopelessly  obscure  to  most  modern  readers.  Cam 
pion  could  but  hint  darkly  his  comparison  of  the  Elizabethan 
persecution  to  the  Decian.  The  Latin  runs:  Etenim,  ut 
nostrorum  ilia  fuit  Epistasis  turbulent  a,  sic  nostrorum  haec 
evasit  divina  Catastrophe.  Epistasis  is  "the  part  of  the 
play  where  the  plot  thickens  "  (Liddell  and  Scott).  Catas 
trophe  is  "  the  turn  of  the  plot  "  (Id.). 


140  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

and  fuel  of  hell1  the  first  that  meets  our  gaze  is 
Simon  Magus.  What  did  he  do?  He  endeavoured 
to  snatch  away  free  will  from  man:  he  prated  of 
faith  alone  (Clen.  lib.  i.  recog. ;  Iren.  1.  i,  c.  2). 
After  him,  Novatian.  Who  was  he?  An  Anti- 
pope,  rival  to  the  Roman  Pontiff  Cornelius,  an 
enemy  of  the  Sacraments,  of  Penance  and  Chrism. 
Then  Manes  the  Persian.  He  taught  that  baptism 
did  not  confer  salvation.  After  him  the  Arian 
Aerius.  He  condemned  prayers  for  the  dead:  he 
confounded  priests  with  bishops,  and  was  surnamed 
"  the  atheist  "  no  less  than  Lucian.  There  follows 
Vigilantius,  who  would  not  have  the  Saints  prayed 
to;  and  Jovinian,  who  put  marriage  on  a  level 
with  virginity;  finally,  a  whole  mess  of  nastiness, 
Macedonius,  Pelagius,  Nestorius,  Eutyches,  the 
Monothelites,  the  Iconoclasts,  to  whom  posterity 
will  aggregate  Luther  and  Calvin.  What  of  them? 
All  black  crows, 2  born  of  the  same  egg,  they  re 
volted  from  the  Prelates  of  our  Church,  and  by 
them  were  rejected  and  made  void. 

Let  us  leave  the  lower  regions  and  return  to 
earth.  Wherever  I  cast  my  eyes  and  turn  my 
thoughts,  whether  I  regard  the  Patriarchates  and 
the  Apostolic  Sees,  or  the  Bishops  of  other  lands, 
or  meritorious  Princes,  Kings,  and  Emperors,  or 
the  origin  of  Christianity  in  any  nation,  or  any 
evidence  of  antiquity,  or  light  of  reason,  or  beauty 
of  virtue,  all  things  serve  and  support  our  faith. 
I  call  to  witness  the  Roman  Succession,  in  which 

1  Faeces  et  folks  et  alumenta  gehennae. 

2  Mali  corvi. 


TEN    REASONS  141 

Church,  to  speak  with  Augustine  (Ep.  162:  Doctr. 
Christ,  ii.  8),  the  Primacy  of  the  Apostolic  Chair 
has  ever  flourished.  I  call  to  witness  those  other 
Apostolic  Sees,  to  which  this  name  eminently  be 
longs,  because  they  were  erected  by  the  Apostles 
themselves,  or  by  their  immediate  disciples.  I  call 
to  witness  the  Pastors  of  the  nations,  separate  in 
place,  but  united  in  our  religion:  Ignatius  and 
Chrysostom  at  Antioch ;  Peter,  Alexander,  Athana- 
sius,  Theophilus,  at  Alexandria;  Macarius  and 
Cyril  at  Jerusalem;  Proclus  at  Constantinople; 
Gregory  and  Basil  in  Cappadocia;  Thauma- 
turgus  in  Pontus;  at  Smyrna  Polycarp;  Justin 
at  Athens;  Dionysius  at  Corinth;  Gregory  at 
Nyssa;  Methodius  at  Tyre;  Ephrem  in  Syria; 
Cyprian,  Optatus,  Augustine,  in  Africa;  Epi- 
phanius  in  Cyprus;  Andrew  in  Crete;  Ambrose, 
Paulinus,  Gaudentius,  Prosper,  Faustus,  Vigilius, 
in  Italy;  Irenaeus,  Martin,  Hilary,  Eucherius,  Gre 
gory,  Salvianus,  in  Gaul;  Vincentus,  Orosius,  Ilde- 
phonsus,  Leander,  Isidore,  in  Spain;  in  Britain, 
Fugatius,  Damian,  Justus,  Mellitus,  Bede. 
Finally,  not  to  appear  to  be  making  a  vain  dis 
play  of  names,  whatever  works,  or  fragments  of 
works,  are  still  extant  of  those  who  sowed  the  Gos 
pel  seed  in  distant  lands,  all  exhibit  to  us  one  faith, 
that  which  we  Catholics  profess  to-day.  O  Christ, 
what  cause  can  I  allege  to  Thee  why  Thou  shouldst 
not  banish  me  from  Thine  own,  if  to  so  many  lights 
of  the  Church  I  should  have  preferred  mannikins, 
dwellers  in  darkness,  few,  unlearned,  split  into 
sects,  and  of  bad  moral  character  1 


142  EDMUND    CAMPION'S 

I  call  to  witness  likewise  Princes,  Kings,  Emper 
ors,  and  their  Commonwealths,  whose  own  piety, 
and  the  people  of  their  realms,  and  their  estab 
lished  discipline  in  war  and  peace,  were  altogether 
founded  on  this  our  Catholic  doctrine.  What 
Theodosiuses  here  might  I  summon  from  the  East, 
what  Charleses  from  the  West,  what  Edwards  from 
England,  what  Louises  from  France,  what  Her- 
menegilds  from  Spain,  Henries  from  Saxony,  Wen- 
ceslauses  from  Bohemia,  Leopolds  from  Austria, 
Stephens  from  Hungary,  Josaphats  from  India, 
Dukes  and  Counts  from  all  the  world  over,  who 
by  example,  by  arms,  by  laws,  by  loving  care,  by 
outlay  of  money,  have  nourished  our  Church  !  For 
so  Isaias  foretold  : 


fathers,  and  queens  thy  nurses  (Isaias  xlix.  23). 

Listen,  Elizabeth,  most  powerful  Queen,  for 
thee  this  great  prophet  utters  this  prophecy,  and 
therein  teaches  thee  thy  part.  I  tell  thee:  one  and 
the  same  heaven  cannot  hold  Calvin  and  the  Princes 
whom  I  have  named.  With  these  Princes  then 
associate  thyself,  and  so  make  thee  worthy  of 
thy  ancestors,  worthy  of  thy  genius,  worthy  of  thy 
excellence  in  letters,  worthy  of  thy  praises,  worthy 
of  thy  fortune.  To  this  effect  alone  do  I  labour 
about  thy  person,  and  will  labour,  whatever  shall 
become  of  me,  for  whom  these  adversaries  so  often 
augur  the  gallows,  as  though  I  were  an  enemy  of 
thy  life.  Hail,  good  Cross.  There  will  come, 
Elizabeth,  the  day,  that  day  which  will  show  thee 
clearly  which  have  loved  thee,  the  Society  of  Jesus 
or  the  offspring  of  Luther. 


TEN   REASONS  143 

I  proceed.  I  call  to  witness  all  the  coasts  and 
regions  of  the  world,  to  which  the  Gospel  trumpet 
has  sounded  since  the  birth  of  Christ.  Was  this  a 
little  thing,  to  close  the  mouth  of  idols  and  carry; 
the  kingdom  of  God  to  the  nations?  Of  Christ 
Luther  speaks:  we  Catholics  speak  of  Christ.  /s 
Christ  divided ?  (i  Cor.  i.  13).  By  no  means. 
Either  we  speak  of  a  false  Christ  or  he  does.  What 
then?  I  will  say.  Let  Him  be  Christ,  and  belong 
to  them,  at  whose  coming  in  Dagon  broke  his  neck. 
Our  Christ  was  pleased  to  use  the  services  of  our 
men,  when  He  banished  from  the  hearts  of  so  many 
peoples — Jupiters,  Mercuries,  Dianas,  Phoebades, 
and  that  black  night  and  sad  Erebus  of  ages. 
There  is  too  leisure  to  search  afar  off,  let  us  examine 
only  neighbouring  and  domestic  history.  The 
Irish  imbibed  from  Patrick,  the  Scots  from  Palla- 
dius,  the  English  from  Augustine,  men  consecrated 
at  Rome,  sent  from  Rome,  venerating  Rome,  either 
no  faith  at  all  or  assuredly  our  faith,  the  Catholic 
faith.  The  case  is  clear.  I  hurry  on. 

Witness  Universities,  witness  tables  of  laws,  wit-^\ 
ness  the  domestic  habits  of  men,  witness  the  elec-    1     ',    . 
tion  and  inauguration  of  Emperors,  witness    the  /  ^,^ 
coronation  rites  and  anointing  of  Kings,  witness  L   JTj~ 
the  Orders  of  Knighthood  and  their  very  mantles,  Cq  £      •  • 
witness  windows,  witness  coins,  witness  city  gates 
and  city  houses,  witness  the  labours  and  life  of  our 
ancestors,  witness  all  things  great  and  small,  that 
no  religion  in  the  world  but  ours  ever  took  deep 
root  there. 

These  considerations  being  at  hand  to  me,  and 


144  EDMUND   CAMPION'S 

so  affecting  me  as  I  thought  them  over  that  it 
seemed  the  part  of  insolence,  nay  of  insanity,  to 
renounce  all  this  Christian  company  and  consort 
with  the  most  abandoned  of  men,  I  confess,  I  felt 
animated  and  fired  to  the  conflict,  a  conflict  wherein 
I  can  never  be  worsted  until  it  comes  to  the  Saints 
being  hurled  from  heaven  and  the  proud  Lucifer 
recovering  heaven.  Therefore  let  Chark,  who  re 
viles  me  so  outrageously,  be  in  better  conceit  with 
me,  if  I  have  preferred  to  trust  this  poor  sinful 
soul  of  mine,  which  Christ  has  bought  so  dearly, 
rather  to  a  safe  way,  a  sure  way,  a  royal  road,  than 
to  Calvin's  rocks  or  woodland  thickets,  there  to 
hang  caught  in  uncertainty. 

CONCLUSION 

You  have  from  me,  Gentlemen  of  the  University, 
this  little  present,  put  together  by,  the  labour  of 
such  leisure  as  I  could  snatch  on  the  road.  My 
purpose  was  to  clear  myself  in  your  judgment  of 
the  charge  of  arrogance,  and  to  show  just  cause  for 
my  confidence,  and  meanwhile,  until  such  time  as 
along  with  me  you  are  invited  by  the  adversaries 
to  the  disputations  in  the  Schools,  to  give  you  a 
sort  of  foretaste  of  what  is  to  come  there.  If  you 
think  it  a  just,  safe,  and  virtuous  choice  for  Luther 
or  Calvin  to  be  taken  for  the  Canon  of  Scripture, 
the  Mind  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Standard  of  the 
Church,  the  Pedagogue  of  Councils  and  Fathers, 
in  short,  the  God  of  all  witnesses  and  ages,  I  have 
nothing  to  hope  of  your  reading  or  hearing  me. 


TEN    REASONS  145 

But  if  you  are  such  as  I  have  pictured  you  in  my; 
mind,  philosophers,  keen- sighted,  lovers  of  the 
truth,  of  simplicity,  of  modesty,  enemies  of  te 
merity,  of  trifles  and  sophisms,  you  will  easily  see 
daylight  in  the  open  air,  seeing  that  you  already  see 
the  peep  of  day  through  a  narrow  chink.  I  will 
say  freely  what  my  love  of  you,  and  your  danger, 
and  the  importance  of  the  matter  requires.  The 
devil  is  not  unaware  that  you  will  see  this  light  of 
day,  if  ever  you  raise  your  eyes  to  it.  For  what  a 
piece  of  stupidity  it  would  be  to  prefer  Hanmers 
and  Charks  to  Christian  antiquity!  But  there  are 
certain  Lutheran  enticements  whereby  the  devil  ex 
tends  his  kingdom,  delicate  snares  whereby  that 
hooker  of  men  has  caught  with  his  baits  already 
many  of  your  rank  and  station.  What  are  they! 
Gold,  glory,  pleasures,  lusts.  Despise  them.  What 
are  they  but  bowels  of  earth,  high-sounding  air, 
a  banquet  of  worms,  fair  dunghills.  Scorn  them. 
Christ  is  rich,  who  will  maintain  you :  He  is  a  King, 
who  will  provide  you:  He  is  a  sumptuous  enter 
tainer,  who  will  feast  you;  He  is  beautiful,  who 
will  give  in  abundance  all  that  can  make  you  happy. 
Enrol  yourselves  in  His  service,  that  with  Him  you 
may  gain  triumphs,  and  show  yourselves  men  truly 
most  learned,  truly  most  illustrious.  Farewell.  At 
Cosmopolis,  City  of  all  the  world,  1581. 


THE  END. 


K 


Cairpion,    Edmund 
Ten  reasons. 


BJX 
2069